I worked a several companies, but except for the last I didn't stay long enough (7 years or so) to get vested in the pension plans. And even if I had, the plans are so loaded to the back end that it would have been worthless. But the one cash value profit sharing plan (similar to 401K) that I got to roll over later to an IRA paid off nicely.
401K/IRAs are much better than a pension plan for all but the executive class.
As far as ObamaCare goes, you are right, things look dark.
I"m a fan of HSAs, especially if you start young, but that's one Reaganite solution that Obama wants to kill.
The only simple (to express, not do) way to stop this is to kill the income tax, repeal the 16th amendment. Any other way out will go through a morass of compromise, and when good compromises with evil, evil wins.
Unless the US voters have an epiphany, you might end up with a "compromised" repeal of the 16th amendment (a 2000 page amendment?), if it even got that far.
Things look indeed dark, unless something changes.