On Being American And Medical Insurance

Decisions have to be made with limited choices available. So, they sit at the IKEA kitchen table, in the small dining area of their modest house to go over the few medical insurance options available with the new knowledge that their current insurance plan will no longer cover the doctors or clinic they've been going to for over ten years.

They’re pushing a boulder up a hill.

This insurance plan is also the most "affordable."

The overall cost is more expensive since the deductible per person per year is now $10,150 and with their go-to hospital (along with another major hospital nearby) being kicked out of network — the boulder rolls back over them.

It’s confusing and exhausting going through each plan, each premium, what doctors are covered under which plan. It almost doesn’t matter what providers are covered because the deductible must be met prior to reaping any true benefits from the medical insurance.

They pore over the options again and do the math.

Their situation isn’t unique. It isn’t even the worst case. There are millions more Americans sitting at their kitchens tables going over the medical insurance options with some families facing a double, or even quadruple increase of their premiums for 2026.

Decisions have to be made.

They’re exhausted.