@jarkody Often even if you end up needing to pay a few grand out of pocket, as the premiums are so much cheaper with a high deductible plan, you still come out ahead. That said, ideally your possible out of pocket costs shouldn’t be more than you are able to pay. Compare any plan options to see what is the best option next enrollment.
Note typical non emergency blood work ordered by primary care is unlikely to be over $500, could only be $100-200, or even fully covered as preventative. Depends what it is. Even if insurance makes you pay 100%, you still get their negotiated rates, often much lower than you’d be charged otherwise.
Added: Often even ER care is less $ than you’d think, can be negotiated down, put on a payment plan, etc. Many of my visits were less than $1k even with blood work and imagining. It depends on condition, location, etc, though.
In my opinion the best thing about insurance is it limits your $ liability to the out of pocket max amount. That could save you from bankruptcy if you need surgery, ICU care, etc. Plus you’ll typically get way better care versus being uninsured, in which case many doctors won’t even see you as they don’t know what to charge and/or don’t want to risk going unpaid, the ER will ensure you won’t die then kick you out (unless you put down a huge $ deposit), etc.
With my husband’s work’s plan options, even though we end up paying our $6k out of pocket max every year with my health issues, that plus the low premium paycheck deductions cost us less in total than if we had chose the “better” plan.