I had private insurance at the time (and still do) through my employer so while the premiums and deductibles skyrocketed they weren’t nearly as draconian as it was for those who didn’t have through their employer. (People who come in to work every day tend to be healthier and do less dangerous things than the general population so the part of the premium that insures them will be less while the part of the premium that insures the takers will be the same.)
“Are yo saying that ACA distorts the market to such a degree that it makes insurance impossible?”
I wrote that the design of the ACA doesn’t make mathematical sense and has a 0% chance of working as intended. Last I checked it was on life support and the government just keeps throwing more and more money into it. Do you recall when Former President Obama said that the average family will save $2,500 annually through the ACA? Have you seen that money yet?
“I believe large companies, like walmart, self-insure – does their method work?”
Some large companies to self-insure (they don’t need to be as large as Walmart to self-insure) but their rates went through the roof as well. There’s a checklist a health insurance plan needs to pass to be compliant and those plans need to pass them as well. (And like I said earlier- the premiums contain a huge chunk to cover the takers.)
“Is it possible to create an association of responsible daveners who also do not smoke and machmir in middos and pool an insurance coverage? maybe, self-insure?”
It’s highly unlikely. You probably don’t know much of what goes on in the background but such a pool woulnd’t be part of a network and would have to pay claims at the out of network rate. (Labs are notorious for charging hundres of Dollars for tests that get reduced to under $10 after the negotiated rate.) And as mentioned before- the pool wouldn’t be in comliance with the ACA.
“My mesroah says that there are at least 36 potential members in every generation – is this large enough for a pool?”
Uh, no- it’s not enough to spread the risk around for the medical conditions that don’t arise through negligence.