Right. If I had substantial net worth and owned a home, then I'd want to buy health insurance in order to protect those assets. I think this, more than that we

Right. If I had substantial net worth and owned a home, then I'd want to buy health insurance in order to protect those assets. I think this, more than that we're healthier, is one of the reasons people in their 20s opt out. Health insurance is useful in the semi-bad cases (e.g. a $25,000 one-off expenditure) but has plenty of mechanisms (life caps, rescissions) that enable it to abandon you anyway in event of catastrophe. We (young people) are as vulnerable as anyone else to catastrophes-- and if health insurance was any good during those, I might consider buying a plan-- but the mid-sized stuff rolls off of us because we're young and don't have much (materially) to lose. So why buy health insurance? I know my chance of preventable death is slightly higher, but not monstrously so.