I don’t have reason to believe my insurance will suddenly drop coverage when I need it. I don’t think that’s a huge risk.

Your hypothetical world isn’t all that safe either, because when the government says no, that answer is final. There is no other option, there is no other way even if I wanted to pay. That’s just as bad as coverage being dropped, and perhaps much more likely given my faith in the government to do things efficiently these days.

Even for lukemia, or lung cancer? and that's assuming you go to work for the rest of your life. What happens when you get so sick with one of the above you can't go to work and you no longer have insurance?

> Your hypothetical world isn’t all that safe either, because when the government says no, that answer is final. There is no other option, there is no other way even if I wanted to pay

That's simply not true. I've had personal experience in Australia, Canada and the UK, and in each of those systems you can choose to pay for private coverage & care if you so wish. I have never felt the need.

EDIT: Also, I thought of another reason.

You use the word "I" or "Me" 6 times. Does your grandmother have the same "bulletproof" coverage you do? Your nieces and nephews? Your Sister and her husband? How about your distant cousins? How about even your best friends, neighbors, and their loved ones. It's not all about you. Think about how your loved ones will be impacted, because they just might not have the same coverage you do.

There's loads of cases, including one in this thread, about people who thought they were covered but weren't. This is really a bad situation to be in if it happens, and it should worry you every time there's an event. After all, the insurance company has direct interest in not covering you.

Now the government does as well, this is true. But those cases, eg in the UK it's talked about a fair bit, tend to be where there's a judgement that a treat is neither not sufficiently tested to be useable, or simply not worth the cost-benefit, eg it's expensive and only buys the patient a few more weeks of life. So it's true what you say, but it's worth considering what the balance of risks is: a healthcare co that has an interest against you every time, and has been shown to fight, or the government, which normally only denies treatment in rare borderline cases.

I'd say a big part of it is particular to US culture: the healtcare cos have been shown to not be that easy to get money out of. Somewhere like Switzerland also has private healthcare, but they don't compete in the same way. Everyone must have insurance, and you won't be paying out of pocket above some limit. The companies are not famous for screwing everyone, and compete to provide extra service (eg hotel-like rooms when you have a kid).

Arguably their job is to not cover you. Paying actual medical expenses is referred to in the industry as "medical loss". To reiterate: paying for health care is considered a type of loss. Their goal is not your goal.

Are you confident you'll never go through a stroke?