Is Private Health Insurance Affordable?

Just turn on the TV and we hear of cases where it just costs too much for private health insurance so millions go uninsured. Yet, on the otherhand, going online (such as at ehealthinsurance.com) and looking as some quotes, they look relatively affordable. Which is it?

It's both.

I was 29 when I first bought private health insurance. It wasn't so bad -- $150 a month.

Without making a single claim on it, without using it a single time, by the end of two years, it was over $350 a month. Why? -- people in my "group" had made expensive claims, and I had to pay for it. Also, I had passed the magical age of 30, which apparently meant I was on the verge of falling all to pieces (or more precisely, they were desperately afraid I'd pop out a baby at any moment, and cost them a fortune -- funny how they'll cover something as expensive as childbirth, but didn't pay a dime to something as cheap as birth control pills!).

Considering I was in business for myself, and taking only enough in salary to pay my bills, that medical insurance payment represented about half my take-home pay.

And I can guarantee that someone will post pretty soon after me, and say, "Wow, I wish my insurance was as cheap as $350!" Because even though it was high for me, as a single person, that's pretty cheap for a family, or for someone with an expensive condition, etc.

Find a wife with a job with good benefits. solution found

Is Private Health Insurance Affordable?
Affordable to whom? This is a very general question, since there are virtually tens of thousands of various private health packages to choose from (and probably less to qualify for). What is affordable to one income level is probably not to another. Shop around, but shop carefully, since this is something that can literally cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars in some situations if you make the wrong choice.

Find a wife with a job with good benefits. solution found
Bluntly put, but this is not bad advice. ;)

Mine is about 220 a month.

I had a similar situation with BCBS of Tenn. My premium increased over $150.00 in one year on individual health for a 10 year old who never used the insurance one time.