Now that President Biden has signed the Inflation Reduction Act, which authorizes Medicare to negotiate directly with pharmaceutical companies for some drugs, you can expect policymakers and reporters to shift their focus to the high cost of a stay in the hospital.
To share some numbers around the OOP Max problem.... where I live, *all* but one of the (Un)Affordable Care Act plans features the maximum "OOP Max" allowed by law as the deductible. For the 2022 plan year, the out-of-pocket limit for a Marketplace plan can’t be more than $8,700 for an individual and $17,400 for a family. The one that doesn't costs something like $2K per month for an individual - so, for most of us, effectively none. For most people, that means they have only "super-catastrophe" coverage. People with this coverage and who have an expensive ongoing or chronic condition face a "catastrophe" every year. I gather that the OOP-max-as-deductible is not the case everywhere and I would *love* to know how the community deductible is determined, especially where there is such unwavering consistency.
To share some numbers around the OOP Max problem.... where I live, *all* but one of the (Un)Affordable Care Act plans features the maximum "OOP Max" allowed by law as the deductible. For the 2022 plan year, the out-of-pocket limit for a Marketplace plan can’t be more than $8,700 for an individual and $17,400 for a family. The one that doesn't costs something like $2K per month for an individual - so, for most of us, effectively none. For most people, that means they have only "super-catastrophe" coverage. People with this coverage and who have an expensive ongoing or chronic condition face a "catastrophe" every year. I gather that the OOP-max-as-deductible is not the case everywhere and I would *love* to know how the community deductible is determined, especially where there is such unwavering consistency.