Is most health insurance effectively non-insurance?

Unfortunately it's true, most health insurance is effectively non-insurance. That's because most people can't afford their deductible.

Most people with health insurance have a high deductible plan. That means they are paying a relatively low premium in exchange for a relatively high deductible. Around half can't afford their deductible. That means they are effectively blocked from using their insurance for its primary purpose, covering their healthcare expenses.

Here's how Dr Eric Bricker of AHealthcareZ explains it:

People will use the term "under-insured," but arguably most health insurance, the way it's set up today, is essentially non-insurance.

I mean, specifically let's say you didn't have health insurance at all. So you basically would be trying to not drown in 100 feet of water. Okay, and someone comes along and says we're going to give you health insurance and instead of treading water in 100 feet of water, you only have to tread water in 17 feet of water. Well shoot, that might not be very helpful. Especially when 36% of people will drown in just 4 feet of water. So if 36% of people are going to drown in 4 feet of water, going from 100 feet of water to 17 feet of water doesn't help too much. ... You're still going to drown.

In this analogy, feet of water actually represents hundreds of dollars. Specifically, 17 feet of water represents a deductible of $1,700.  Statistics indicate 36% of people can't afford a deductible of $400, so a deductible of $1,700 makes insurance effectively useless.

The term "non-insurance" seems accurate here. If there is no chance your health insurance will cover any medical expenses, then it is basically a medical discount plan. And medical discount plans are not insurance.

If you are paying for insurance you can't actually use, consider joining Pocketero. You still pay out of pocket, but you get the best prices instead of mediocre insurance prices.