Speaking solely for myself, I want insurance for when things go sideways. Kid breaks his arm and needs emergency surgery, and so on. I don't CARE about the nickels and dimes - kid has a sore throat and needs a prescription, or I need a yearly physical. That's "routine maintenance", and I wouldn't expect my insurance company to cover it, any more than I'd expect GEICO to cover fillups and oil changes.
Perhaps that is the very reason why I can get an oil change for $19.95 and can't get out of an emergency room for under $500 ... insurance companies pick up the tab for one, but not the other. But I digress....
But - politicians have gotten involved and mandated coverage. For instance, I'm covered for drug addiction treatment (not gonna be a problem), mental health evals and treatment (ditto), and treatments for both erectile dysfunction AND pregnancy (don't even know what to say, here). What's worse is that I'm paying for everyone else to have these things, too.
I think that shopping for insurance across state lines - much like auto insurance - would help drive costs down. Perhaps an a la carte plan - "There's a family history of breast cancer, let me up that part of my coverage just in case." Would take the do-good politicians out of the loop, at the least, and would let me buy health insurance that I actually might need.
I’m not a big insurance guy. As much as possible I want insurance out of my life. That being said, we all need insurance. I just think things are out of whack.
We tend to want insurance to cover everything, so we pay very high premiums for it. We shouldn’t.
We should have $10,000 in a special savings account to cover exposures to catastrophic illness. We should cover the $10,000 fees.
It’s my take that if you look at the savings you get by not buying the policy that covers everything from $0.00 on, you more than make up your deductible. Mow that $800 a month premium down to $200. a month, and it takes about a year and a half to make up your deductible. Not using your deductible every year, you more than make up the deductible and increase your savings.
The insurance company still makes money off your policy. You still increase your net worth.
Take that deductible savings and build it up for a down payment on a home. Sound crazy until you realize you can do the same thing with your vehicle and other insurances.
If a husband and wife are both working under this plan, the savings can be extensive over a decade.