Unable to buy health insurance!!

Why are they unable to buy health insurance?

A family with 3 kids wants to buy health insurance.

But... and it's a big but... they waited too long. Yes, friends, they decided to get serious AFTER January 31, 2017. No more OPEN ENROLLMENT effective dates until 2018!

I tried calling a few carriers. NONE of them will entertain issuing a policy until next year.
They could get an interim policy, but still be exposed to penalties and no advance premium tax credit (APTC) to reduce the cost.

I can understand why they can't get APTC.
You snooze, you lose. BUT, to not be able to purchase ANY health insurance until next year?!?!

How did we end up in a place where health insurers refuse to issue policies 11 months out of the year. Even to healthy people.

Fact and Fiction

A big challenge for Obamacare: separating fact from fiction

Fact or Fiction?
     A) It impacts only 15% of the population.
     B) 20 million people got coverage
     C) It is affordable. (the Affordable Care Act)

A) 15% of the population

So many people get coverage through their employer, through Medicare, Medicaid, VA and other benefit programs, that ONLY A SMALL portion of the population has to worry about Obamacare. BTW, 20 million people is way less than 15%  of the population of the US. About 6.1%*.

B) 20 million people

The BIG NUMBER tossed about is hard to digest. OVER HALF aren't on an ACA program... they are on EXPANDED MEDICAID. Even Covered California (the website) is a joint venture with Medi-Cal (the California version of Medicaid). So HALF of the people get expanded Medicaid for free (in some states), the other half get HEAVY SUBSIDIES from the taxpayers. BTW all of this pricing tends to favor older people at the expense of the younger -- the very group needed to keep Obamacare solvent. Which leads to the next issue...

C) Affordable

If you qualify for FREE Medicaid or HIGHLY SUBSIDIZED ACA coverage (in some cases $1 per month premium per person), maybe it's affordable. Of course, that $1 per month premium pays for a BRONZE family health plan with an $11,000 deductible. I have had numerous people tell me that the SILVER plan just isn't worth the extra expense (unless you are already sick).

*The current population of the United States of America is 325,681,133 as of Wednesday, March 1, 2017, based on the latest United Nations estimates. 

Medicaid Expansion

BTW: remember when people talked about MEDICAID EXPANSION? Why wouldn't ALL states adopt it? Only mean, ignorant, backward states (conservative states) failed to adopt it. After all, the federal government pays for ALL of it for a number of years. Then they pay for most of it.

California learned the hard way: that ain't necessarily so...
You see... people who qualified under the old rules, are NOT part of the new reimbursement regime. Which means California is ON THE HOOK for ALL of the pre-ACA expenses for those people who took interest in hearing about Obamacare, but who actually qualified under the old program.

AND if it is such a budget-buster at the state level, should we simply ignore the fiscal impact at the federal level?