A few months ago, I happily joined the ranks of the self-employed. I lost my employer-sponsored health insurance, but I hoped to save money by purchasing catastrophic plan coverage – very low premium, very high deductible insurance that would cover very expensive, unexpected medical care if something terrible were to happen to me.

No dice. The (supposedly) Affordable Care Act makes it illegal for me to purchase catastrophic coverage because I’m not under 30 and do not qualify under any of the 14 “hardship exemptions” listed on Healthcare.gov.