>Even if I do get hit with something catastrophic, I'd rather have them send me the bill and let me negotiate and pay it off myself.

You do realize medical bills can be in the millions of dollars, right? It isn't even vary hard to get into the hundreds of thousands. Requiring everyone to have insurance solves the "free rider problem," where some individuals pay less than others for the same thing. You can "negotiate" all you want, but that just means person A pays less than person B for the same thing. Especially if you get a $200,000 hospital bill and you had to declare bankruptcy. If there are a lot of Person As, it makes the costs for all the person Bs rise. If there is no incentive to be a Person B, then many people would be a Person A. Requiring insurance tries to eliminate the Person As.

Disclaimer: In the real world of US healthcare, prices are nuts and different for insured and uninsured.

> I realize this isn't a trade that every person is in a position to make, but why do I need the insurance?

Because most people can't deal with a $30,000 medical bill.

Also most people are, for lack of a better word, stupid. They don't make rational choices. My sister for example, thinks that she doesn't need health insurance because juice fasts can cure all diseases. How many of my sisters are out there vs people who are responsible with their money?

You may think you will be completely healthy, but really, we are all human and something terrible (and expensive) can happen to you tomorrow.

Do I think this is a good system or a good solution to the problem? No, I do not.

A lot of my resistance is due to the fact that I've been burned in the past by the fine print and ended up having to pay 80% instead of the agreed upon 20%. If I truly trusted that the insurance company would be there for me when I need them, I would have a different approach. As it stands I paid monthly insurance premiums + deductible + most of the bill. No thanks. I'll take my chances on my own.

Edit: For clarity, the insurance company decided to pay 80% of what they claimed the procedure was worth, not what it actually cost. Apparently there was something in the fine print about that.

>If I truly trusted that the insurance company would be there for me

I don't believe they will be there for me either, and I've been burned before too. That's one of the reasons why I don't support the ACA. However, making others take on your risk is any sane solution. You are just shifting the burden to others.

> As it stands I paid monthly insurance premiums + deductible + most of the bill

You can appeal and appeal and appeal, then go to your state insurance board. This is a government required right. There wasn't any reason to just accept what the insurance company told you. You can even get an external review. Over 90 percent of insurance decisions are reversed on appeal.

Just several phone calls sometimes resolves the issue. I've been on the phone so many times I've practically gotten them on speeddial.