As usual, democrats are conflating several issues.
Yes, catastrophic coverage is expensive when something goes wrong. I’d love to have insurance covering just that situation, but they banned it. Catastrophic illness is rare, and the cost of that coverage is not insanely high.
What costs far more is elective medical care. When we say that some service is “free”, there is no incentive not to use that service, even if it’s not needed. I remember noticing that it was cheaper to take my kids to the doctor for the sniffles and get a prescription than it was to pay for over the counter medicines. There is something wrong with that. If we get rid of the “free” items, unnecessary utilization will go down, costs will drop, and we won’t need the unreasonable deductibles and copayments on real services.
You are exactly right. The key to all this is NOT insurance. Insurance doesn’t = medical care. The only thing we need insurance for is catastrophic illness. Why pay high premiums so doctors and insurance companies can fight about the cost of the office visit. Price transparency would cure a lot of the ills of medical costs. If I know how much one doctor is charging for a visit or test than I can shop around. Competition will naturally drive down price. This is not happening because politicians are afraid of the AMA and the Insurance lobby. The people need to take their healthcare system back. Pay as you go, insurance for major medical expenses only!
That’s why co-pays are too low. Some people are lonely and just want to visit the doctor.