Originally Posted by
phatch
Under the ACA, you can have catastrophic only if you're under 30 without a penalty. If you're over 30, you'll have to pay the individual mandate penalty but can still buy a catastrophic policy and self insure.
Under Trumpcare, if it passes the senate as written now, the individual mandate goes away and Catastrophic is a penalty free option for all ages.
Where Iceaxe has kids, I don't understand how the current penalties apply in that situation. The total penalties might make self insurance less reasonable. Also where his family participate in somewhat more risky pursuits, spending some time with an sports focused actuary to better understand his risks could also be worthwhile in the calculation.
My gut instinct (which lacks detailed knowledge and information) would be to stay the course this year and see how and when Trumpcare passes in the details and when it will take effect. There's too much change coming to make a long term decision such as self insurance this year.