[C6.] Deal Would Create World's Largest Gold Producer Barrick Gold plans to acquire Placer Dome after improving its offer to $10.4 billion in a deal that would create the world's biggest gold producer.
In comparison, a 27-year-old resident of Prince George County, Va., will spend a minimum of $159 each month for a "bronze" plan through Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield or as much as $1,923 for a "gold" plan through Optima Health.
I tested the Pressplay Gold plan ($19.95 monthly for 750 streams, 75 downloads and 15 burns).
(Silver and gold plans are also available; the prices don't account for subsidies).
He has announced his intention to focus on enacting the Senior Gold plan, which would help cut prescription drug costs for the middle-income elderly.
For small businesses and individuals, the Affordable Care Act defines four levels of actuarial value: a bronze plan covers 60 percent of expected costs, a silver plan covers 70 percent, a gold plan covers 80 percent, and a platinum plan covers 90 percent.
On the outside, they could still sell cheap plans to skim off the healthy and avoid a rule that insurers on the exchanges must also offer more generous silver and gold plans.
The most extreme example is Florence, Wis., which has only two choices, from the same carrier – silver and gold plans with costs ranging from a low of about $280 for a 27-year-old for a silver plan to a high of about $1,064 for a gold family plan.
"Gold" plans, among the most expensive of the choices but with lower deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses, can be purchased for an average premium of $310 for a 27-year-old.
As anticipated, the premiums vary widely from state to state and region to region, the data shows, from $100 a month for a 27-year-old in one Oklahoma county who chooses the lowest-level bronze plan to more than $1,900 for someone of the same age choosing the highest-level gold plan in a Virginia suburb of Washington.
