@churnman: employers are ignorant. It's not in their best interests to actually know the basic tenets of the ACA, because then they can blame their own choices that screw over their employees on the ACA, rather than A)rapacious insurance companies and B)their own greed.
IF you decide, outside of being a new hire or an open enrollment period to become insured, when you previously were not, yes, at that point, there may be limits placed on preexisting conditions. But during times that are considered open, no. And, of course the bulk of sign ups for health insurance are during either one's period as a new hire, or during open enrollment.
I can't speak for you, or your coworkers or neighbors. But I have observed that when one or two people in a group are vigorously opposing something, that most will either nod a little or murmur something that may or may not be taken as agreement. Politics and religion tend not to be comfortable subjects for most of us.
I don't know what state you live in, so I have no idea what plans are offered in your state. In mine, they range from high deductible plans, such as you mention, to those with lower ones, such as the BC/BS plan through Husband's employer with a $500 deductible.
Keep in mind, though, that deductible and out of pocket expense are two different things. The one is the amount of covered charges that you pay in full before the insurance company pays anything. The second is the total amount of covered charges you are expected to pay, once the insurance company begins to pay their share.
We've gotten far off the topic of "How do I get into a doctor's office in a reasonable time?"
That, too, has gotten worse. I mentioned above that I would have waited, VERY sick, for two months when I had a serious infection 12 years ago, had my doctor himself not intervened. I don't see that improving, frankly, no matter how the healthcare laws change.
The reality is that, absent extremely strict laws governing health insurance companies, they WILL screw their customers, just as banks will, absent strict laws governing them.
Issues exist with the ACA. But worse issues existed prior to its implementation. I don't have the answer. But "voting the bums out" is simply too easy, and, ultimately, ineffective an answer. The question, to my mind, is, "How do we improve on what we now have?" rather than "How do we dump it and start all over?"