[Myrddin]

I was employed FT through mid-Sept 2014. My premiums were $492 every two weeks + $9,000 in deductibles. About $24,000 out of my pocket before any benefits are paid. I got cut to 12 hours/week in mid-Sept. First time I haven't been full time in 35 years of working. HR wanted to jack up my premiums to $750 every two weeks. Nice. Every penny I earned would be consumed by premiums and not a penny left for deductibles or nice stuff like food/shelter/utilities. I dropped the medical insurance. My wife's employer offered similar coverage with ZERO out of pocket. We went that way.

In December, I picked up work again. 32 hr/week. As of this week, I'm back to 40 hr/week. Note I've continued to work 50 - 70 hr weeks all along. The hours noted were the PAID hours.

Article speaks to out of pocket costs of 10% of annual income. The premiums + deductibles X 10 is significantly more than my gross household income. I simple can't afford to be on my employer's program. My wife just had over $50k in medical services for breast cancer. We're whittling down $16k of charges not covered by the insurance. I sure miss the days when I paid $25/month for Kaiser Permanente for my whole family.

[itsahoot]

Every penny I earned would be consumed by premiums and not a penny left for deductibles or nice stuff like food/shelter/utilities.

If any company offered a product that very few could afford what would happen?

The truth is that medical care cost has no relationship to the customer base ability to pay.