Read all about that going on in California. One 30ish woman who is a contracted engineer who is paid $80K a year gets her health insurance cancelled because her $98/ mo policy does not meet the new mandated minimum coverage levels. The new policy offered her that is compliant with the new law is $238/mo. She CANNOT afford that on $80,000 a year?

Life is so tough ...

This really should be like auto insurance in this state -- if you post a cash bond of the minimum coverage required to operate a motor vehicle's insurance requirement for liability you don't have to buy insurance.

Make the cash bond vary with the persons age. 30-year-old = $60K CASH bond. I am just being illustrative as I know this is impracticable. But just how do these people with these limited payment policies intend to pay the any uncovered costs?

They have to buy public liability insurance here. I think the law is the same in California on mandatory motor vehicle insurance. In fact, I pay extra for uninsured motorist liability coverage in case I am in an accident with an uninsured motorist. 1 in 3 motorists are driving without insurance around here they say. And in fact, I pay $186 per insured vehicle a year into a catastrophic medical expense fund to pay medical expenses if I am involved with an auto accident -- my own limit in this fund is excess of $530,000 per claim my own health insurer pays up to that amount. That's the law in this state and the assessment is mandatory in any auto insurance policy you buy.

What is the alternative? Anarchy on the roads? It's heading that way here actually.

I could give a rats ass about the high living costs in California -- I lived there for 8 years (note the past tense). Anyway, if you make $80K a year and can't afford $285 for healthcare insurance too fucking bad.

8% of your income is the point of exemption, on $80K that is $6,400.00 a year or $533.34 a month -- Congress voted that a reasonable amount. Considering the taxation rate in countries with "universal healthcare" VAT 18% - 28%, income taxes personal and corporate -- their universal healthcare is hardly free to people and business earning any real money ... Why we should expect different is perplexing.

If you are a single person making $80K a year and can't afford the cost of healthcare insurance you have a problem, that was her exact situation ...

If you cannot spend 8% of your net profit or w-2 income on healthcare you have a problem.

Then I really could care less ...

An automobile is a necessity in life for me. Probably for most people. Maybe if you live in NYC or some other city with a subway and lots of taxis ... But if you are poor and unable to afford a car relying on buses in metro-areas or some other access to transportation like; friends, family, etc. ... However, if you fall into that class there is free Medicaid or heavily subsidised healthcare now available to you if your income is less than 4 times the poverty level.

These subsidies are paid for by the "obamacare fairy?" No, more younger healthier people in the pool, maybe some rate increases, maybe some tax increase -- hopefully an increase in efficiency and a reduction of excess overall healthcare costs paid to the providers. (Doctors, Clinics and Hospitals (Don't forget big pharma and medical device and supply companies)).

Obamacare is a ponzi scam much in the same way as Medicare and Social Security is. Medicare and Social Security is a cornerstone of social policy in this country and in time universal healthcare will be too.

So, who among you will not accept some of your Social Security retirement benefits if you don't really need them? -- you might (or should) be able to take a tax credit for that -- where is your compassion for the less fortunate ... Don't hold you breath it ain't ever going to happen that way.

I have spent over $23,000.00 on health care costs over the past twenty-seven months. Sorry, no sympathy here.

Well, that is for one persons costs. And yes, that is my personal issue and I wouldn't wish on anyone these sort of expenses but there are a lot of people paying crazy amounts like this and more.

And I don't need anyone's sympathy or pity, I can afford the expenses -- you can't make any money if you are dead -- this is the way I look at this.

When someone is bitching about some relatively minor amount that keeps them from making a payment on a newer car or something -- like the example of the 30ish woman making $80K a year and squawking about having to pay more ($160/a month) to upgrade her limited healthcare insurance to the minimum standards required by law now -- I could give a flying fuck.

I would react differently if she was a single mother of 2 making $22K a year working her ass off to get by.

Truth is the top 10% can afford this added burden of the new ACA (Obamacare) legislation and I hope you are one of them too, and if you are not, I guess some of us will get stuck with the costs of your subsidy -- I can deal with that. The costs of sickness that can be avoided are a giant drag on the economy and as big of a waste as some of these mindless wars we have -- in the end we should all benefit.

I am going to spend $60K to $100K over the next 7 years until I will get Medicare, I am an old fuck -- then the Medicare supplemental insurances and copays may cost me $thousands per year until I am dead -- I can deal with that.

But I am still in favor of the concept of universal health care because if I could have afforded reasonable health insurance from when I was 25-years-old (I struggled too -- what I have I have made myself) maybe today I would not have so many medical issues -- fuck the money.

For reason of this Obamacare law I could get insurance with a pre-existing condition because of a federally funded program from the feds to the state. My contribution was just $652.00 a month for one person and I was more than happy to pay that then end up dead.

Man up and quit your bitching ... I am glad of your health and your family's I would wish it to continue to be so.