If you have a reasonably middle-class income, the plans are prohibitively expensive and unbelievably shitty. I'm only anecdotal, but by comparison, prior the A

If you have a reasonably middle-class income, the plans are prohibitively expensive and unbelievably shitty. I'm only anecdotal, but by comparison, prior the ACA, my insurance for a family of 3 was $300/month with a $2500/year deductible. That $300/$5000 plan was considered predatory and high deductible. The first plan offered to me under the ACA was something like $700/month with an $8000 deductible. Plans this year were ~$950/month with a ~$15,000 deductible. It's Cadillac pricing and one-star benefits. Meanwhile, my "non-compliant, high deductible" plan from a private market is $400/month with a $5000/deductible. I opted out of ACA - it made sense to opt out even when I had to pay the $2100/year penalty, because the premiums and the deductible were still less. I qualify as "underinsured", but that couldn't be farther from the truth. My plan can be irritating to use, but they have online self-service tools for providing healthcare, and I have never been questioned about paying for necessary treatments. I pay them, they pay the doc. Very simple. For people who relied on private insurance and weren't destitute, the ACA has been a shit-show from day one. The only highlight to the ACA for me is the hundreds of thousands in billables I've accrued helping institutions become "compliant" with the ACA.