This year, the price of health insurance increased dramatically for millions of people. Tens of millions. Obamacare subsidies shrunk, and premiums skyrocketed.

People asked themselves: how on earth am I supposed to make this work?

Two of those folks — attorney Nicole Wipp and skate-shop owner Noah Hulsman — tell the story of how they chose among lousy options.

Nicole chose to dump health insurance altogether — even though she could have found a way to pay for it. Noah chose to pay for coverage that sucks, because it’s all he can afford.

Each made their choice in the context of their broader stories: Noah is deeply rooted in Louisville, KY, and lives about a mile from where his grandmother started Louisville’s first skate shop, around the time he was born.

Nicole’s story includes an expensive, life-threatening medical adventure a decade ago — and a series of choices that’s taken her family from Michigan to Hawaii to South Carolina.

Reporters with KFF Health News have been talking with dozens of people all over the country about these kinds of choices for their series on the health insurance crisis, Priced Out. KFF Health News senior correspondent Renuka Rayasam, who introduced us to Nicole and Noah after writing about their stories, joins us to reflect on what these stories mean.

Read more of Renuka Rayasam’s reporting:

When Health Insurance Costs More Than the Mortgage

It’s 2026 and You’re Uninsured. Now What?

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‘Not workable’: How two Americans picked a plan this year — or didn’t