[rdtwo]

What you are missing is that in the us hospital rates are different for everyone. If you are uninsured you might get billed 5-10x what someone with insurance might get billed. So in the event of something minor like a hospital visit you will get hit with a bill for 10k just for showing up at the hospital and 20-40k for an overnight stay. Catastrophic is the way to go if you need a somewhat deferrable surgery you can go to a different country or game the requirement for a life event that would allow enrollment in a health plan.

Keep in mind that insurance reimbursement/negotiated rates matter. You want an insurance that negotiated a super low payout (though that will limit where you can go for procedures) as that will often greatly reduce your out of pocket payment in situations where you don’t hit the catastrophic cap which will be 99% of cases.

[greenyoda]

It's not just hospital rates. It's also visits to a doctor, lab tests, urgent care facilities, drugs, etc. Providers who are in your insurance "network" negotiate rates with your insurance company that are much lower than the retail rates. The difference can be a factor of 10.