Covering your self will save you money for now while you figure out how to deal with it otherwise. The best you can do if you want catastrophic for cheaper catastrophes than with o-care coverage at a reasonable rate and get out from Uncle Sam is the various Christian, and a couple of Ethic based, health cost sharing plans. You choose your own doctor and rates tend to be a lot lower if you make a cash deal with him for routine and periodic exam stuff.
The older one gets, the easier it is to get a hardship waiver because premiums cost more than 8% of income. You can then buy the lower cost catastrophic plan without having to pay the penalty. Another option is be upping 401K or IRA contributions to lower income into the subsidy range.