For many (most?) cases you can still buy individual market directly with the insurer via phone/website. My understanding is you have to go through exchanges for certain subsidy situations.

> The cost was less too

> Also the $300 plan I paid each month for sucked

First off, the old way was for an employer to handle it for you. If you had your own solo insurance before, I'm impressed. I had a hard time finding health coverage as a freelancer years ago.

But more to your point, the cost was less, and sucked, because insurers could offer barebones, high-deductible plans that didn't really cover much except for catastrophic needs. Hence why you encountered high payments every time you actually needed healthcare.

In addition, premiums cost more now because:

- The highest risk and most expensive people were excluded from coverage entirely, either because they couldn't afford it or insurers refused to cover them, which they are no longer allowed to do. As a result, insurers are paying out more to cover medical treatment.

- Providers and drug companies continue to raise prices, while insurance premiums are regulated and locked annually.

- Government subsidies that were initially promised to insurers to help them cover gaps as they figured out the first few years of the ACA market were eliminated prematurely (cf. Marco Rubio).

As a result, annual increases have jumped dramatically as they adjust to increased care, increasing costs, and drops in subsidies.

So premiums are up because (a) you have better coverage (due to regulated minimum levels of coverage), (b) there are more sick people being covered (either because they couldn't afford coverage before or were excluded), and (c) net costs have risen.

> forced those who do and work to pay and cover for those who don't

I think that's an overly simplistic way of interpreting the situation.