So this is what all the fuss was about???

I seldom delve within the realm of the political but this one struck me as something worth considering...

According to what I understand, states or the federal government (depends upon the states choice) will put together different levels of health care plans, affordable, but tailored to the particular needs and choices of the individual or family.  Platinum will offer the highest coverage and lowest co-pays and has the biggest price tag.  Gold will tilt slightly more to a lower price tag with higher than average coverage and lower than average co-pays.  Silver will be an average plan with higher co-pays, deductibles, and a lower than average cost.  Bronze will offer the highest out of pocket cost with the lowest monthly premium.  I think you get it.

Anyway, I read where California has detailed the "silver" plan.  Now this is one step above basic and two steps away from Cadillac coverage. This would probably prove to be a popular choice for those who did not have health insurance before Obamacare.  The only problem is the plan.

In other words, we moved heaven and earth (in terms of congressional propensity not to act and the unpopularity of the plan as a whole) in order to offer a moderate to low income family a health care plan which costs $3852 in premiums, co-pays nearly double the usual plan offered prior to Obamacare, a high generic co-pay for prescriptions than what most pharmacies offer without insurance ($4 monthly and $10 for 90 day generic coverages), and the potential for an out of pocket of an additional $6400 for the family.  Add it all together and it is more than what most folks would pay for a comparable plan prior to Obamacare.  I know.  I obtained coverage in Nebraska for one son (prior to Obamacare) with better coverage than the silver plan detailed above for $139 per month.  I also helped a Tennessee family obtain coverage (again prior to Obamacare) for $271 per month and better co-pays and a $500 lower annual deductible than cited in the California offering.

My only question is this.  If the California plan offers a glimpse of what the fruits of all the controversy, conflict, and Machiavellian manipulated of Congress has wrought, what have we gained?  If I were that family in California with limited financial resources, the silver plan (one step from the bottom) is not a great bargain.  It occurs to me that we may not have solved the great health care equation... at least not yet.  I feel for the family choosing the silver option.  I feel for my own parish and the high cost of health care premiums paid for what is good but not spectacular health care coverage.  I feel for family members who are young and healthy and do not have health insurance.  I feel for the infirm not yet Medicare age and the high hurdle they face for health care coverage.  But I am not yet ready to say the great dilemma has been fixed.