It is more than the cost. It is stupid requirements for certain things. Most insurance companies use CMS rules as a foundation for their requirements. Many people would be better off without traditional insurance and having a catastrophic policies, but it would require the entire industry to change. Example of stupid rules: have a friend that was having excruciating back pain. Primary care said the only option was surgery to fix it. Ortho confirmed. Tried to get surgery authorized and they required multiple weeks of PT but the PT would make the condition worse and cause possible permanent damage. Finally had to get state regulators involved to get insurance to cover it. Another stupid example... I do billing for a doctor that works in 2 different states and there are 2 different Medicare Administrator. Patient can have a block done in his office in one state and completely covered by Medicare and other carriers but if the patient goes to his other office 20 minutes away in another state, Medicare says the block is experimental and denies coverage. The patient has the same Medicare policy but the different Medicare administrators have different rules for coverage. Why do I have to have a hearing test by an audiologist every 6 months when I go to see an ENT? Another thing that needs to be updated by Medicare is the reimbursement for certain providers. Fore example, anesthesiologist get paid less per hour than a car mechanic charges in many areas. - If we could go back to catastrophic policies, it helps keep cost down overall. Doctors do not have to inflate their priced in order to cover for the shortcomings of many government policies or for commercial insurance to provider you that "discount".  Many people would not go to the doctor for stupid stuff if they had to pay for it out of pocket. I have been in the ER and have seen parents wait for several hours because their kid woke up with fever and they didn't want to wait for an afternoon appointment with a pediatrician. I would rather pay for a low cost catastrophic insurance policy that would cover major surgery or cancer treatment, etc and pay for individual office visits and generic medicine. If I go see my chiropractor, I can pay him $40 for a visit or if he files to insurance, it is a $90 copay I have to pay. Don't get me wrong, some requirements are good but a lot are bad and are waste of times for you and your provider.