It is funny that in every case hyped by the media where so and so had their rate go up or the plan canceled and so on and how horrible it is, a better plan than they had was available for less than they had been paying through an exchange.
Those here who are saying their rates went up (beyond the normal 10-15% annual rate increases) are either making way more than I am or never checked their options on an exchange. When your insurance company tries to sell you a compliant plan they don't calculate the help you might get via an exchange, they just give you the raw price. The exchange, at least the Federal one, show you the raw prices, but then applies the assistance based on what you set for income and people to be insured and such.
Basically, if you didn't try an exchange and are claiming your rate went way up you may have had options to avoid that, depending on income.
I think this assertion suffers from an evidentiary deficit. First, while you're entirely correct that the prices quoted are pre-sub, the sub cuts off at 49k for an individual, somewhere in the 80-90 range for a couple. Most of the people signing up are those who had insurance but whose plans were killed off by the coverage floors. How d we "know" this? We don't. However, it looks like the number of drops is approximately equal (slightly greater, actually) to the number of new signatories. Unless you believe that they're different clientele, you can look at the drop group as exemplary of the "typical" experience. Most are older and of higher income - we KNOW this because PPACA signup has fallen well short of the important under-30 category, sign-up wise. But, perhaps the government could tidily solve this speculative issue by releasing, fully, the income/age data for the signatories. Yet, they refuse to. It seems to me, if this were such a success as you assert, that data would be trumpeted from the tower walls.
As for your assertion that they're better - by whose standard? Does the 70 yo woman who now has to buy obstetric coverage, have a better plan, just because it has broader coverage? Sho could make that choice on her own before.
Meanwhile, due to the runaway success of this you cite, Sebelius is about to step down. Apply the laugh test here. Leaders of runaway successes don't leave by the back door at night. This thing is a disaster and those that helped pass it are hastily dissembling to try to get over their November hurdles.
