If you're in reasonably good health and paying the out-of-pocket max on a silver or bronze plan wouldn't be a severe financial hardship, one of those plans is likely to be a better buy. If you do acquire some chronic health issues that would cause a higher coverage level to be a better deal in your situation, you can always switch for the next plan year.
+1
This is the most important thing to remember about ACA, you can change plans. There are two types of devastating medical costs. This first is an accident or single incident of some kind that lands someone in the hospital for a period of time from which one recovers within a relatively short period of time. For a mustachian having to pay 10-20K from the stash sucks, but is easily doable and you move on with life.
The second is a chronic condition that requires regular medical care. In the event of this, ACA provides significant relief. This person was previously uninsurable if switching plans and could be bankrupt in a few short years of treatment, now he/she gets subsidies to make it "affordable". IMO this is a huge safety net for the early retiree.
I supposed a third issue may be some type of expensive planned procedure (ie hip replacement from 10 years of rock climbing). For this I would seriously consider medical tourism if I had a high deductible plan or again, switching plans the next year and waiting to have it done.
One last consideration. It is possible to get plans that are not in the ACA marketplace. If you do not get subsidies and you are a healthy young person, it may behove you to get a high deductible plan that offers specific things you are looking for. It still may be cheaper to pay the penalty and get the non marketplace plan for your specific needs. Then, in the event of a chronic problem that would raise your rate, switch to a subsidized ACA plan as soon as possible.
