It is a disgrace. And, please, don't absolve the insurance companies. Thanks to our useless political leaders: U.S. Senators Murkowski and Sullivan, Rep. Young,  and our state legislators, we have nothing but a giant mess. EXCEPT FOR PUBLIC EMPLOYEES, UNION EMPLOYEES,a few large companies,  and the retired, the rest of us have been hung out to dry! Try this on for size: a good friend of mine, same age, breast cancer survivor, just got her policy for 2017, on the exchange, in Seattle: 236.00 per  month, and that includes dental. My "small group" policy for myself and employees through PREMERA BLUE CROSS WILL BE a 12% increase ( an even crappier policy)so around 1025.00 per person per month with high deductible. If we had kept our "grandmothered" policy (like the way they slipped that in) it was going to be a 30% +premium increase. A trip to PROVIDENCE emergency a couple of years ago demonstrated that I was paying for my trip, as well as someone else's care.