Only health insurance that complied with all of the Obamacare requirements allowed one to not pay the mandated penalty. The only other option that allowed most people to avoid the penalty was to join a “Healthcare Ministry” like my wife and I did.
With the penalty gone, people will now be able to purchase non-compliant forms of health insurance such as catastrophic plans that cost only a fraction of full Obamacare compliant insurance and then use Healthcare Savings plans to pay for more routine medical expenses. This is far less expensive and actually gives better protection if one were to suffer from a disease or injury that required very expensive treatment.
This is why eliminating the mandate guts Obamacare and opens up a multitude of mere affordable healthcare insurance options. President Trump actually is correct... Obamacare is now on the way out because it will not be able to compete with other forms of health insurance. This will lower the costs for families and people who want health insurance coverage and will reduce the amount the government currently is paying out in subsidies.
But are insurance companies allowed to sell such plans again under current law?
Since you have been impacted slightly greater than I, I will take your word in this. I don’t have to (yet) shop the open market