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Comment by hysan | Hacker News Reader

My wife is a certified social worker and knows just about everything there is about that. It’ll be cheaper but far worse in terms of coverage and deductibles. So it’s an option for stretching budget, but it’s not a good solution if anything significant happens. I’ll ask her if she knows what’s changed with regards to COVID-19 related cases, but my guess is that nothing in terms of coverage has changed. So given the current world circumstances, switching would be akin to taking a giant gamble on your health.

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Unless you have pre-existing conditions or very expensive and rare prescriptions, it's probably worth the gamble to go to something like a silver plan at this point. How many months of COBRA would you pay until you reach the max out of pocket payout for the silver plan is some math you should do. You can scale that based on your risk tolerance.

An equivalent plan in my state (MO) is 2.5x more expensive (monthly), with a higher deductible and fewer available in-network providers :(

Is medicaid a good option? I think you should qualify in California. Also, I don't know your situation, but has your health needs changed recently? I know Kaiser is trying to limit unnecessary office visits.

In California, Obamacare IS Medical (aka Medicaid). I signed up once. I couldn't get my Vyvanse for my ADHD because it's a controlled substance, and the Medical doctor wouldn't touch a prescription for it.

Pro-tip:. If you pay out of pocket for your regular doctor (maybe tell then your situation and work out a deal), you can get Medical to pay for the prescription (verify before trying).

  Obamacare IS Medical (aka Medicaid)

No, Obamacare is Covered CA.

Medicaid is called MediCal, except persons in the US illegally can get it, too.

  If you pay out of pocket for your regular doctor... you can get Medical to pay for the prescription

That's a felony.

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