You have it exactly backwards. The healthy people are in fact paying for the ill people (who typically don't come even remotely close to ever paying for the cost of their treatment/care). The real cost to cover healthy people is extremely low, they pay artificially inflated prices for their insurance that subsidizes care & coverage for other sick people.

In the US, 5% of patients represent over 50% of the cost of healthcare. 1% of patients are 20% of all expenses. The healthiest 50% represent just 3% of the healthcare system's costs - they're the financial offset group.

For downvoters that find facts uncomfortable: that's why the ACA needed to force all people to have insurance, it's a financial necessity to get as many paying healthy people in the system as possible to financially offset the cost of sick people if you want to try to make it work. This is healthcare system 101.

> You have it exactly backwards. The healthy people are in fact paying for the ill people (who typically don't come even remotely close to ever paying for the cost of their treatment/care). The real cost to cover healthy people is extremely low, they pay artificially inflated prices for their insurance that subsidizes care & coverage for other sick people.

Agree - that's indeed how insurance works. :)

I was referring to high co-pays on vastly expensive new drugs, and was also being slightly facetious.