I would like to ditch insurance and find a doctor who would allow me to pay a monthly subscription fee, much like a gym membership, for preventative care.
Isn't the primary purpose of insurance for exceptional and accidental situations? If that's true, then why am I using it for predictable monthly expenses?
Google Direct Primary Care + your city/state to see what's available. It's SERIOUSLY better than the mainstream option. I've been doing it for nearly a decade now, and would never go back. Combine it with a cost sharing plan (NOT insurance) such as https://www.libertyhealthshare.org/3-program-options to achieve superior care at lower cost.
So what do you do when you get cancer and run up $1 million in bills? That's what insurance is for. Not sure if your monthly fee is going to work for you like that.
Preventative care means less risk of catastrophic care. Its cheaper for insurance to encourage you towards preventative care than pay for the catastrophic care.
Your information is outdated. It was unafforadable fifteen years ago . . . in the last five to ten, it has become very, very affordable and has exploded in popularity to the point that it's available all over the country. Here's one example: https://atlas.md/wichita/our-fees/
Children 0-19 years old, $10/month with at least one parent membership
Adults 20-44 years old, $50/month
Adults 45-64 years old, $75/month
Adults 65+ years old, $100/month
Employer groups with 5+ employees, $50/mo/adult
That particular practice offers wholesale-priced labs and meds as part of the price (which is common), which can save you more than the entire cost of the membership if you're dealing with something chronic. https://atlas.md/wichita/benefits/
I don't have a dog in this fight — I was merely pointing out that no one is stopping non-rich people from buying anything. It's just that people with lots of money can afford more than people with less money, in medicine as in anything.
Isn't the primary purpose of insurance for exceptional and accidental situations? If that's true, then why am I using it for predictable monthly expenses?