... Only a percentage (60%) and only after you reach the deductible (in my area that's over $6k), which is how these sort of high-deductible plans work (and is what I currently have because that's what was available before the exchanges). Again, from my link:
> A catastrophic plan generally requires you to pay all of your medical costs up to a certain amount, usually several thousand dollars. Costs for essential health benefits over that are generally paid by the insurance company.
Unlike a high-deductible plan that you may have now, the new ones do provide for 3 primary care visits annually as well as preventative care (essentially screenings and vaccines which end up saving everyone money).
> Lastly my income is low right now since I'm building a startup, so 1% won't hurt me much.
Since your income is low you would qualify for a subsidy and likely be able to get insurance for little to no cost. Or you could be bankrupted by some bad luck and pay a penalty for the privilege.
Also I only live in the US part of the year, and it's unclear which state I'm even allowed to buy insurance from (I have no US address right now). I'd certainly be paying for months of care I couldn't use since you can't buy month to month.
Lastly my income is low right now since I'm building a startup, so 1% won't hurt me much.