| Do you have $100k up front to pay your bill? Hospitals are not banks. They typically don't do "pay over time" and frequently require the uninsured to pre-pay before getting treatment. You are healthy now, but there are efforts underway to repeal laws that forgive pre-existing conditions. If You you develop a condition that you felt warranted the expense you might (in the future) find it impossible to get coverage. Why do you feel like you need to pay after tax? If you are self employed, you can typically deduct the cost of health insurance for you and your family unless you are otherwise covered by some other plan or make no income, but as you stated you do have an income. Talk to your accountant. You feel like making $60k after tax it would be no big deal to pay down an addition $100k medical expense, but the reality is that is probably unlikely. If you have a big medical bill, are you certain you will even be able to continue to make your $60k after tax? I don't think it is unreasonable to question this. For context, two thirds of all bankruptcies in the USA are a result of inability to pay medical expenses and that includes those who actually have insurance. I/We are well insured thankfully and when my kid broke their arm the cost for the ambulance ride from urgent care to the hospital (urgent care thought it was much too serious for them to deal with) was $1000 just for the 5 min ride. Med-Evac can be 30k or more and these are charges prior to even setting foot in the ER. God forbid you or your family gets injured, but a car wreck involving the primary bread winner will almost certainly ruin you financially for the rest of your life. In the end though, insurance (all insurance) is a gamble. In the case of health insurance, young/healthy people feel often feel like it is not a good bet. |
By the way, another option related to this specific concern is private disability insurance. It can also apparently be a lot cheaper than some kinds of medical coverage and is meant to deal specifically with the risk of lost income due to an unforeseen medical problem. It can potentially provide much higher and longer-lasting coverage than mandatory state disability insurance.