[cuban leaf]

The price for health care without health insurance is plummeting. This is partly due to the fact that the high deductibles are keeping people away from the doctor unless they really, really need to go. So if you are paying by cash or credit card, you can end up paying a quarter or less than the same visit used to cost if you used insurance.

[Myrddin]

I asked my gastroenterology clinic about cash vs insurance. They are more than eager to cut me a better cash deal. My deductibles are so high and I go so rarely for any reason that cash make sense. I was paying $492 every two weeks to cover my wife and myself. My hours got cut to 12 hours per week. The premiums were going to $642 every two weeks. Crap. My take home without insurance was $1,000 every two weeks at 12 hours per week. I dropped the coverage. My wife's employer offered better coverage and no premium. Cool.