Thanks for all the information, Bill! I think that for now, $439 is the best I'm going to get to insure myself and my spouse.

It looks like all the American full-time musicians here who do not have spouses with insurance benefits are in the same boat here.

My take on the new health care act is that it will insure millions of new people but it won't reduce rates for those already insured. Too many compromises were made to lobbyists from the insurance industry, hospitals, and pharmaceutical industry, all who made millions of dollars in campaign contributions to senators to water down the law and protect their interests.

In the last election cycle, these lobbies spent millions of dollars on anonymous ads to elect politicians who will gut the law altogether. They'll probably get their way.