Late Shoppers – Honey and Bumble bee

We are expecting our first frost this weekend and in preparation for this event, I lowered all of the storm windows and then I headed over to the gardens to catch the last breath of summer. It was a wee bit chilly. Earlier, I had discovered that the Obamacare website has gone live with the 2018 plans and pricing. You can only window shop now. You’ll have to wait until next week to actually sign up for a plan. In Saint Louis, there are two health insurance providers on the ACA exchange, which is better than I had expected. I thought that there would only be one. They offer a total of ten plans, 3 bronze, 5 silver and 2 gold. We are old and we make too much money for tax credits, making our monthly premiums rather expensive, like in the $1,000s. I left the Obamacare website feeling despondent. 

On the way over to the garden I caught a local NPR talk show that was covering this very subject. The expert confirmed my worse fears, but also corrected some of my misconceptions. She explained that all of the sabotage that Trump, et. al. has been committing this year has caused Saint Louis premiums to jump 50% for next year. Thank you very much, Assholes! She also said that the states have stepped into the void left by the Republicans in Washington. She counseled shopping around. There may be better deals outside the exchanges. I dabbled in this and have been inundated with solicitations since. It feels like the wild west out there. We’ve been on COBRA since I retired. It is expensive too, but it is ending. I knew that this storm was coming. Now it is time to face it. When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping, this time for healthcare insurance.