I was barely able to afford the $500 plan I had in 2017 - technically I couldn't afford it, but I could "swing," it while going into debt with copays and coinsurance when needing to actually use it. The plan's gone up $100 - even taking into account that I'm now eligible for a very generous $20 subsidy. The worst is that if I took the plan, I'd be included in the statistic people love to pass around - that premiums aren't really that high because people receive subsidies. Yes, all of $20.

I've run the numbers and determined I'm probably better off paying the penalty and using local community health self-pay prices. I hate that I'm playing into Republicans playbook to crash the markets.