"I'm lucky enough to even have an above-average length chain"

Have you ever had a major medical event? If so, did your insurance company require your doctor to go through their "approved" methods for treatment before they could do what they actually thought would most quickly and effectively treat your condition? Have you ever been brought by ambulance to an emergency room that is "out of network?" Have you ever been billed for something you thought insurance was going to cover because the medical coder input a different code than the insurance company will approve? If you've never had any of these things happen to you, you have no concept of whether or not your insurance is "good." Or you're in a union and your insurance IS actually good. Lucky you in that case.

Wow, I've never heard of one where it ends as soon as employment does; usually it lasts until the end of the current month.

The point your missing is you shouldn't have to pay anything.

$1,000,000 of medical care.

That is something I can't conceive of and I'm not alone.

Big numbers are sometimes big for no reason and elimantiong middlemen makes it go down.

Edit: I'm sorry you went through whatever it was regardless.

Has it occurred to you that you shouldn't be paying anything at all?

No fucking way the real cost is $1M unless you had an organ transplant. And that's still considering US prices which are inflated.

In comparison:

German statutory health insurance (GKV) in 2026 totals around 21% of gross salary (14.6% base + ~2.9% average Zusatzbeitrag) plus 3.6% Pflegeversicherung — combined employer and employee. For a €4,000/month salary, that’s roughly €840/month total; at the income cap of €5,812.50, the full combined cost reaches about €1,220/month. Employee and employer each cover roughly half.

I think the cheapest combination would be state owned hospitals and health centers. The state owns the land, pays the staff and buys equipment and medication in huge quantities, which may result in cheaper prices. If not, they could also start producing their own base medication.

A profit oriented health sector is not a good idea. It only gives you minimum care combined with high costs.

Wow, you really DO have abnormally good insurance, to only pay a grand in a year.

For anybody else confused by this because you live in a civilized country, let me translate: The standard offering from employers nowadays is called a high deductible health plan. The deductible is the amount you have to pay* for healthcare before your insurance pays anything, and it is typically several thousand dollars.

(* There are a few preventive services that are 100% covered, so if you have no health issues whatsoever you can still get a yearly checkup and a flu shot without paying extra)

Me too. My wife had cancer.