My job ended in January '16. I got a large severance and left the US for 7 months. I sold some stock in July, but other than that, my income was $0 each month. Looking forward, my income was likely to be just as erratic, with most months being $0. After spending way too much time talking with the folks at CoveredCA trying to figure out just how to fill out the forms for such an uncertain income level, I finally got all the information on my application and got denied. I couldn't even buy an unsubsidized plan. The exchange failed hard for my scenario and I ended up having to buy insurance directly from the health insurance company I was with when I was employed. It was quick and easy and cheaper than it would have been on the exchanges. And now, to add insult to injury, I'm probably going to have to pay a penalty for not having US health insurance for all those months that I wasn't living in the US, since I'm pretty sure I didn't pass the threshold for being a non-resident.

As a programmer, I'm all to familiar with code that handles the 90% case and just assumes those other edge cases don't exist. It's lazy and error prone and a sign of an amateur programmer. The ACA feels like the legislative equivalent of that sort of code. In their hurry to create a system where the majority of those without health coverage could get it, they created a system that's truly terrible for edge cases like me.