If you're in the family situation and ONE person uses the medical a lot, it isn't bad. That's the situation I had the last couple of years. My wife was dealing with some major medical problems, but my son and I were healthy and fine the whole time. I didn't have to come up with much past the HRA, the Healthy Rewards and my FSA. Probably around $2,800 out of pocket not counting premiums but including money I tossed into my FSA. So, for two years I thought "It's not great, but it's not as horrible as everyone says."

This year? My wife and my kid have been struggling, and it's horrible. FSA? Gone. HRA? Gone. Healthy Rewards (which I max out every year)? Gone. We've hit the family deductible now, but we're still a couple grand away from the max co-insurance. So, this year it's looking like I'll hit around $5,000 out of pocket including my FSA money but not counting premiums. Spread that out over several months, and I could be paying $400 a month higher premiums for MUCH better insurance.