Thank you, President Obama!

[MineralMan]

We just got the bill for my wife's hip replacement surgery. After paying our fractional part of that bill, we will have met her out of pocket maximum health care expenditure for 2017. While it's a goodly sum, her ACA policy, issued through the MNSure exchange, has an out of pocket maximum that is equal to her annual deductible.

Obamacare works, so thanks, Obama!

[Hayduke Bomgarte]

1. Amen

I have the ACA version in Phoenix, Az and have met my own annual out of pocket. Went through major surgery, and am now almost halfway through the chemo part. At first, there was a $176 co-pay for the chemo, then a $25 co-pay for the Neulasta they send me home with. Then all the different prescriptions at $5 co-pays and Doctor/lab visits. I was getting killed by the co-pays until I met my annual. Now with no co-payments for the remainder of 2017, I have some breathing room finally.

So, yeah. Thanks President Obama.

[MineralMan]

2. Getting sick and needing care is costly.

Everyone recognizes that. Health insurance should keep it from bankrupting people, whatever their economic status might be.

Do I want to pay that out of pocket maximum? Of course not, but I don't want my wife to suffer from a bad hip, either. So, we'll have to cut back on some things, but she's walking around just fine, so it's worth it.

Without the insurance, though, we would have had to sell our house to pay for her surgery. There's an enormous difference in the two situations. Healthcare is far too costly for ordinary people to afford to get ill. That's why we have insurance. We all foot the bill for those who need it, collectively.

Single payer would be far better and cost less, of course, but thank goodness for Obamacare.

[Hayduke Bomgarte]

3. Costly almost doesn't begin to describe it

That Neulasta, alone, without insurance is $5400 a whack. They don't mention that in the TV ads.

[MineralMan]

4. Yes. Actual prices are never mentioned in ads.

That's because almost nobody pays that price. People without insurance will simply not use Neulasta. While it's an excellent drug during chemotherapy, it only reduces the risk of infections, rather than preventing them. The risk is not huge, even without it, so people without insurance will probably take their chances.

A lot of new medications are completely unaffordable without insurance. Patients who don't have insurance simply will not be prescribed those medications or will opt not to buy them. It's a constant problem. Typically, older, generic alternatives are prescribed.