Maybe the original anecdote was about a family plan. I interpreted it as not, but then reconsidered. Currently, in an urban area of NY state where I am, a basi

Maybe the original anecdote was about a family plan. I interpreted it as not, but then reconsidered. Currently, in an urban area of NY state where I am, a basic family plan is ~$1600 and an individual plan is ~$550. You may say "what about the deductible", but it looks to me like the deductible is effectively only a payment plan. Even if you have a chronic condition, and you know you will go through the deductible for sure, you don't gain anything by paying for a lower deductible. The deductible is nowhere near the difference between $1600 and $4000 anyway.