> It has allowed me the luxury of being able to purchase individual insurance
You could do that before ACA.
> instead of being chained to a 8-5 corporate job
What does this lifestyle choice have to do with ACA? ACA doesn't somehow give you free time or extra money. Unless you are getting your insurance for free (which was possible before ACA, mind you). ACA often does not offer the cheapest plans either...
The GP said he was a cancer survivor. I've talked with several people with serious past or pre-existing conditions, including past occurrences of cancer, who could not find anyone willing to sell them an individual health insurance plan at any price prior to the ACA -- the only way they could get insurance was to be in a job where a group plan was offered.
> What does this lifestyle choice have to do with ACA?
It creates health insurance exchanges on which people can by individual insurance without being denied for pre-existing conditions, meaning they don't need to be in a job offering a group plan in order to get insurance.
> ACA often does not offer the cheapest plans either...
ACA has made it possible for people to buy individual plans who were not able to buy them, at any price, before (the rules that do that, such as the rule against pre-existing condition exclusions, are the reason for the cost increases for individual insurance for people who were insurable prior to the ACA.)
> It creates health insurance exchanges on which people can by individual insurance without being denied for pre-existing conditions
One could (and can) do this without the exchanges.
Yes, before ACA some pre-existing conditions would deny access to some policies from some insurers. This was to prevent a career smoker at age 75 from signing up for a new very large policy, and immediately get the benefits they haven't paid for.
We didn't need all of the baggage that came with ACA to accomplish this.
> meaning they don't need to be in a job offering a group plan in order to get insurance
> ACA has made it possible for people to buy individual plans who were not able to buy them
Before ACA, you did not need to belong to a group plan to get insurance. And to that endeavor, private individual insurance policies are about the same price now as they were then...
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Meanwhile... ACA didn't touch pharmaceutical companies - the true reason healthcare is so expensive ($700 salt water IV's anyone?).
> private individual insurance policies are about the same price
Not for `zrail: pre-ACA, insurers charged high-risk buyers like him/her much higher-than-average premiums based on their medical history. Now that's not allowed.
You could do that before ACA.
> instead of being chained to a 8-5 corporate job
What does this lifestyle choice have to do with ACA? ACA doesn't somehow give you free time or extra money. Unless you are getting your insurance for free (which was possible before ACA, mind you). ACA often does not offer the cheapest plans either...