A 21-year-old shopping for health insurance for the first time was so overwhelmed with the price of monthly premiums that she offhandedly said she “might just take the easy way out.”
The short TikTok video comes from Florida-based creator Cory (@onyxloa), posting on Friday and getting more than 836,000 views as of Sunday morning.
The short video is primarily screenshots of Cory’s Marketplace search for health care plans, showing monthly premiums ranging from around $300 to $350, and hefty deductibles to match, ranging from $7,500 to close to $9,500.
The on-screen caption reads, “I’m 21 and got kicked off Medicaid and now I’m looking for health insurance plans.” Then, with a theme-appropriate emoji, she added, “WTF that’s a car payment.”
The caption accompanying the video added, “No one prepared me for how expensive adulting would be. I might just take the easy way out fr fr.”
@onyxloa No one prepared me for how expensive adulting would be. I might just take the easy way out fr fr #healthinsurance #healthinsurancequotes #broke ♬ original sound – 𝐆𝐔𝐈_𝐟𝐜𝟏𝟎🐺
A KFF study showed that Cory’s shopping might actually be revealing bargain prices. It noted, “Average annual health insurance premiums in 2023 are $8,435 for single coverage and $23,968 for family coverage. These average premiums each increased 7% in 2023. The average family premium has increased 22% since 2018 and 47% since 2013.”
Commenters had suggestions and shared their own stories, adding up to a bleak assessment of health insurance costs in the U.S.
“When I got kicked off Medicaid I found it was more affordable to be uninsured bc uninsured people get discounts at my hospital which added up to be more than insurance would cost,” one shared.
Another revealed, “Had to choose car insurance or health insurance; I went with car insurance.”
Someone else chimed in with, “I feel so relieved it’s not just me.”
Cory revealed in a reply to one commenter how offbase she was in thinking how much health insurance would cost her. She said, “I was thinking I was gonna be paying $100 or sumn. Almost fell out my chair looking at these prices.”
Another person in that thread said, “My insurance agent assigned to my case won’t even get back to me. I’m just chilling with no health insurance rt now.”
Even people who have health insurance through their jobs have a different concern. As one put it, “I have health insurance through my work. They take it out of my paycheck so my paycheck is less. But I can’t afford to go because I can’t afford my copays.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Cory via TikTok direct message.
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