My mom used it efficiently when she retired early at 59 years old to bridge the gap to medicare. I know of several others who have done the same. The article critiquing that niche industry which I read recently basically said that it was a useful tool for a select group of people who couldn't get good insurance through an employer or was too barely over the income poverty threshold to benefit from Obamacare. I have looked at it personally, in brief, in the event that I stop working to go into full-time ministry. My financial advisor, though he qualified his advice by saying that he had not fully looked into it as a viable alternative to traditional insurance, said that he knew several of his clients that successfully used it. And lastly, I had a brief exchange with a Christian fella 2 years ago who seemed pretty well put-together, not rich by any means however, who gave me first-hand testimony of how he had used it for himself and his family to great success for over a decade.