Example of costs for 57yr old Male in Texas
This is a standard insurance option on the public marketplace, commonly known as Obamacare. You can see that with a subsidy, the plan was discounted to $0 a month, which is great!
However, the deductible is at $8700, which means you have to pay $8700 out of your pocket, before the insurance starts to cover a portion of the costs. You can see here that if you go to the hospital, you are paying full price if you have not met your deductible. If you are relatively healthy, you likely won't reach $8700 in medical bills within 1 year right?
Let's say you're on a private plan paying $509.73 a month with a $0 deductible. Your benefits are applied right away since you have no deductible.
$509.73 x 12 months = $6116.76
$8700 - $6116.76 = $2583.24 in savings within 1 calendar year!!