So You Missed The Deadline

     If there is one thing I know about Americans, it's that they don't like being told what to do.  They especially don't like being told how to spend their money.  Just incase you live under a rock the deadline to sign up for health insurance in the federal health insurance marketplace was March 31st.  If you happen to be one of those people, don't worry not all the news is bad ( and if you did sign-up, keep reading you might learn something).  Sure you'll have to pay a fine of $95 or 1% of adjusted gross income and you won't receive government subsidies ( What you probably don't know about them ). You still have multiple options to seek out.  Theres always the option of private insurance which could end up being a less expensive option than anything you would find on the federal exchange.

     The really good news is that you since you have to pay the fine anyway, there is more flexibility in respect to the coverage you can purchase.  You may want to seek out options such as pairing a high deductible low premium insurance with a direct primary care subscription.  This way you can ring fence your out of pocket costs by allowing yourself to see a doctor and receive treatment at no extra cost.  Doing so may actually be more effective and may save you more including the "tax" for not signing up on time or being compliant.  This is an especially good option for younger people who are generally healthy. 

    The option above is currently not ACA approved.  However, the idea of decoupling primary care and catastrophic coverage is the future of health care ( in my opinion ). 90% of all doctor visits are primary care.  Everyone that has insurance and pays a copay while the insurance company picks up the rest of the tab (as they should) adds administrative overhead to both insurance companies and doctors, raising the cost of care!  Having a subscription for for primary care eliminates a substantial amount of that cost. Allowing for treatment to cost less and the physician to spend more time with patients. Not to mention people will be less likely to blow off a doctor visit because they're "not that sick" and receive treatment earlier preventing further complications (Also reducing health care costs).

So I successfully shifted this post from "oh man I missed the deadline" to " wow this guy has a point" maybe?

Evera. Everyone should feel this good about they're healthcare.