It seems more like a tax, somewhat similar to social security. You pay a lot when you're young so that you can get expensive treatments when you're older.
The $12000 out of pocket is only if you use it because you need medical help. You don't actually spend the whole $22K unless you have a lot of medical issues, and then you'll be happy that you only pay $22K per year!
When I left my last employer, I had the same company plan under COBRA. It started at ~$1000, and then went to ~$1300 at the next new year. It had lower out of pocket expenses, but those came at the cost of more monthly payment.
My current Gold medical plan (2 years later) is $820, plus dental at $120 or so. ~$950 for Gold plan, vs $1300 for my COBRA plan (in between, I had a really crappy personal plan that covered almost nothing for ~$600)
People who have employer payed medical have no idea how expensive their plans actually are
People who have employer payed medical have no idea how expensive their plans actually are
People in general have no idea how much their employers pay for any of the mandates - this is by design. If people were forced to pay all (the exact same) expenses from their own paychecks then the idea that they were getting a good deal would fade away.
