> He did not make a rational decision. This is the most upsetting part. I looked. You can buy an insurance plan in Minnesota with a $750 deductable $6000 out of pocket max for $350 per month.
What did you find exactly? Are you sure it’s something that was available to Alec? That price sounds surprisingly low, and sometimes there are cheaper plans for temporary work gap transitions that aren’t available to someone with a job permanently. The article said he was looking on the healthcare.gov marketplace, which doesn’t have plans anywhere near that low. I was using healthcare.gov for a few years while I ran a startup, and the prices went up so fast and so high I don’t know how normal or poor Americans can even afford them. We looked outside the marketplace and only found the same plans for the same price being offered privately.
I lived in Minnesota for a decade and bought individual insurance on the state exchange for a couple of years. I went on the same exchange today and searched for insurance plans available for 26 year old single men (the same situation I was in a few years ago) and found two $750/$6000 plans for $328 and $368 per month. There was also a $1000/$5000 plan for $375 and a few others in the neighborhood.
When I looked outside the exchange a few years ago I found a plan I liked more than my other options which I chose (didn't look today).
Quirks and or better management in MN gives it relatively favorable prices.
Thanks for the additional detail; you know more about Minnesota healthcare than I do. Looks like I'm wrong about the prices there. I guess maybe I'm reacting more to the idea that Alec's decision wasn't rational. I agree with you about how extra sad that decision was, if it was avoidable. But I might also give him some benefit of the doubt, especially since this exact same story isn't that uncommon, of people choosing against insurance because they don't feel like they can afford it, and then paying a much greater price.
What did you find exactly? Are you sure it’s something that was available to Alec? That price sounds surprisingly low, and sometimes there are cheaper plans for temporary work gap transitions that aren’t available to someone with a job permanently. The article said he was looking on the healthcare.gov marketplace, which doesn’t have plans anywhere near that low. I was using healthcare.gov for a few years while I ran a startup, and the prices went up so fast and so high I don’t know how normal or poor Americans can even afford them. We looked outside the marketplace and only found the same plans for the same price being offered privately.