And we should all play the lottery because we might win? If the expected value https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expected_value is lower than the cost, then you rationally shouldn't buy it.

The expected value of insurance is always lower than the cost, that's why someone sells it. The reason you buy insurance is to protect against catastrophic events, which are impossible to predict on an individual basis.

The utility of money is non-linear though. It can be worthwhile to pay a small amount of money in order to prevent a non-zero probability of losing a large amount of money, even if the expected value in terms of dollars is negative.

No...

Hey, if you don't want to buy health insurance fine but... Don't show up at a hospital when you are sick or hurt to drive up the cost for everyone else. Deal?

Personally, I am single payer type person. Cut the middle man insurance companies right out of the equation.

EDIT: Why is my comment being downvoted?

Single payer probably looks good on paper, but I would never trust someone with that much money and power.

The US spends more, not only per capita but as a share of GDP, public funds on healthcare than some OECD countries that have single payer with generally similar outcomes.

So you (in the general sense) are already trusting the government with (or at least, not preventing the government from spending, whether you trust them or not) the money to provide single payer -- you are just doing it in a system which requires an even greater amount in private expenditures on top of those public expenditures to provide a similar overall quality of care.

>Single payer probably looks good on paper

And in the many first world countries that have used it for decades. It's a proven model.

>I would never trust someone with that much money and power.

That's how they're able to negotiate better rates.