The problem is that if you buy your insurance privately vs. Obamacare, the private insurance prices are following the exchange prices. I found that out when they first instituted Obamacare. The California exchange wanted over $1300 per month to insure Hubby and me. We were buying it through private insurance for around the same cost. If you watch, every time premiums go up for Obamacare they also go up for private insurance. We lived it.
There are a few states that force everybody to go through the exchange. In most states the only reason to go through an exchange is if you think you might be eligble for a subsidy.