ObamaCare: Where the Big Winners Take Home the Bronze

Now that I can rest assured that my employer won't choose to just pay the fine (I mean tax for constitutionality purposes) for not offering me health insurance next year, it's time to make sure that the Affordable Care Act will still allow me to keep my High Deductible Health Savings Account policy.  HD/HSA policies are the antithesis of ObamaCare--as they allow the healthy to limit their expenses--and they give the control back to the consumer--rather than insurance agents or government bureaucrats.

In looking into the "acceptability" of HSA's under the ACA, I found a long trail of dire warnings dating back to the passage of the bill in 2009--that such policies would not be allowed--as they would not "cover enough" of the medical expenses users might incur under the estimates that the Obama Administration is using.  But it turns out, HSA's barely made the "Bronze" level of coverage established by ObamaCare.

What I find interesting is that the most sustainable and cost-effective type of health insurance policy gets the lowest rating possible.  "Platinum" policies--like those provided to public sector employees and union auto workers--get the highest rating--despite being the leading drivers of cost inflation in medical care.  Although, that designation carries with it a special penalty (I mean tax for constitutionality purposes) that is ironically enough forcing some employers--like Winnebago County, Wisconsin--to stop offering those "Platinum" policies.  Other low-deductible policies that also encourage people to rack up medical expenses--without ever seeing the true cost of the care provided--fill out the "Gold" and "Silver" ratings.

Despite our low ranking, we HD/HSA policy holders are the only real hope that the Affordable Care Act has of actually working.  While the President and his lackeys want to take credit for the recent flattening in health care costs over the past couple of years, that slow-down in inflation is more closely tied to the increase in the number of Americans who are choosing HSA policies--and are making informed decisions about what treatments they seek. 

If ObamaCare is going to work--despite its designers best intentions to guarantee failure as a step to a single-payer Government system--you will need a large majority of the population taking High Deductible policies--and using the health care system only when necessary to keep demand pressure (and costs) as low as possible.  Of course, we will still take it in the shorts every April when the IRS hits us with the real "penalty" for our fiscal responsibility.  Nonetheless, I encourage everyone to "Go for the Bronze!!" and do your country proud.