The health insurance bankrupcty protection racket is bad when you are young, but worse when you reach your fifties and are more likely to have resources (to lose) and health problems--buying private insurance becomes a necessity in order to protect your assets. I pay $855/month on ACA and it went up $100 per month last year...and it will continue to go up every year By the time I reach Medicare age, there is a good chance I'll be pay $1500 a month because there is literally nothing I can do about it. They can charge whatever they want and call it affordable.