Here is the advantage of health insurance: group rates.

A friend of mine has major medical only with a $5K annual deductible. He had to have a hospital procedure done and his cost was $3500, so one would think that the insurance was useless. If he had gone in and had that same procedure done as a 'walk in, cash patient', the cost would have been over 8K.

The insurance companies have negotiated fixed price deals with their 'in network' providers which is almost always lower than what a walk in would pay. Ditto for dentists. A few years ago, I had to have several root canals/crowns done. Even though my insurance only paid the first $1000 (my annual limit per year), it saved me over $2500 extra due to negotiated fees. The walk-in price for a crown is about $1000 + $1500 for the root canal. My cost was $1500 total for 2.

High deductible major medical is pretty inexpensive and well worth it. Sorry for the continued hijack.