I have been on the healthcare.gov wesbite many times in the past month and have had no problems, although I did the first month it went online. I know a fair amount about the ACA since we have always had an individual policy and we are buying through the exchange. In our area there are about 45 plans for a 28 year sold, some with very low deductibles and around $240 a month. Is he eligilbe for a subsidy? Of he makes below $45,960 he will get a subsidy to help with the monthly premium. Of course the less he makes the bigger the subsidy.
It is true many people are surprised by the high deductibles of some plans. It's important to remember that health insurance was never intended to pay for doctor bills. It was intended to be there for serious illnesses or accidents. But many people under group plans were use to paying low premiums, have low deductibles and low co-pays. My sister use to complain because she had to pay $15 to go to the doctor, while we were paying the entire dr bill out of pocket because we had an individual policy. Our premium is currently $1350 a month for two of us and our deductible is $10,000 per person. Our insurance has never covered any of our medical bills. Individual policy holders have subsidized group plans in the past, helping to keep their rates low while charging very high rates to those not in group plans. We found a plan on the exchange for $950 a month with a $6,000 deductible, we will save quite a bit.
Many of the plans include 2-3 dr visits at no cost a year. Some have very low co-pays. They all cover preventative services now. If he is healthy and makes enough to get a subsidy his premium will be low and yes he may have to pay for a doctor bill but insurance was not designed to do that anyway. If he has a serious illness or accident he will not have to pay more than $6350. There are more things that are covered under all plans now but they will not apply to him, for example well baby visits, vaccinations, birth control, pap tests, colonoscopies.
Our difficult child will probably make below the poverty level this year. She will either be eligible for medicaid or get a subsidy that will pay almost all of the premium. Yes she will still have to pay for a dr visit if she gets sick and we will probably have to pay that for her, but at least we know she is covered for anything serious.
Your son should check all plans that are available to him to find the one that will best suit him. If you have any question that I can answer I'll be happy to try.
We were very disappointed that the small business part of the exchange isn't working yet. My husband is trying to get his employees covered under the exchange. From the rates he has been able to see they can save quite a lot. He pays 100% of his employees premiums. He can go through a broker to buy the insurance but it's so much better to be able to see allt he plans in front of you.
by the way MWM, my difficult child is living with her boyfriend and they do not combine their income. They will each get their own policy.