Hear me out on this, please.
Let’s say that I spend $5k on health insurance in a year, but don’t go to the doctor or have any medical issues in that year. Where does my money go? It disappears. I basically just gave away my money, and received nothing in return. However, if I took that $5k and simply put it into a personal savings account instead of giving it away to a health insurance provider - that money stays right there if and whenever I decide to use it. It even collects interest.
I realize that with a health insurance provider, you’re (supposedly) getting discounted rates on medical services - but if your money is just disappearing into thin air if you don’t happen to need those medical services in a given year, are you really saving money? It just seems like a really big scam to me - what am I missing?
Your money goes to all people that got sick and needed that money for treatment that year. And when you get sick their money goes to cover your expenses. If you never need it, congratulations, you’re a very lucky and/or healthy person and you can feel good about the fact that you helped a lot of people get treated. If you do need it, there’s money to cover your expenses, even if the cost is more than what you ever paid in total.