It's a common refrain that only people with health problems need health care, but that's just not true. Risk has a price. That's why health care and life insurance for healthy people is not free. Good health just makes it easier to pretend that risk isn't there.
Tying health care to employment is a historical accident long overdue for change.
Ironically, it came about because of wage freezes imposed by the government during WW2. Employers had to find something to offer to attract workers, and employer-paid insurance did the trick.
The trap, though, was that employer paid insurance was paid with pre-tax dollars, while if you bought it yourself you'd pay in post-tax dollars, making it far more expensive.
This, 100%. It wouldn't solve everything, but it'd be a huge positive step to roll back tax incentives that encourage this.
Health insurance’s main alleged draw is that shit happens when you least expect it, and you can avoid the massive costs when the unexpected happens (accidents, cancer, botulism, whatever). Unfortunately, someone in America found out you can charge monthly fees for health insurance while still making the person pay massive amounts themselves. Just promise they’ll pay a slightly less massive amount.
Only if they are rich enough to post a rather large bond.
For those of us lucky enough to be in good health, the "Gig economy" as-described would be just fine.