I figured I'd post this as a cautionary tale.

I had always been very healthy. In shape, exercised, ate well, etc. Right after I graduated from college at age 21, I had several part-time jobs, but none with benefits, so I got health insurance on my own. That fall I got ridiculously sick for no apparent reason and almost died. Without boring anyone with details, I ended up spending a month in the hospital three times over the next year and a half after some surgery complications. The doctors never really figured out where the problems came from, only that the random abdominal infection was bacterial.

The bottom line is that the total expenses were over half a million dollars. Without insurance, I shudder to think what would have happened. With it, I still had to fork over a some of my savings, but since I was a compulsive saver, that didn't affect my future much.

So I laugh/cringe whenever someone says they don't need health insurance. You just never know. The $1000-1500 I spent that year ended up saving my future, both literally and financially. Plus when you've almost died, the bad beats don't hurt quite as bad.