If you can't handle paying $30 co-pay for doctors visits, and similar on prescriptions, and having no dental or vision, then you're probably not quite ready to dive into business--unless you raise money. You do need health insurance. A single illness can wipe out your company in very short order--and not just because you're not on the job while recovering. The corporate veil is thin very early on, and if you've got corporate money in the bank, your debtors will want it.
You need health insurance. Bad things happen. Flukes happen. It's not about having the balls to face the risk of no health insurance and stare it in the face; it's about careful planning - the same kind of planning that means you incorporate instead of trusting the chance that nobody will sue you.
If you're non-smoking 22, you should be able to get catastrophic coverage ($5,000+ deductible) starting around $80/month (but more like $110 if you want it from a company you've heard of)
Vermont on the other hand, $5,000 deductible HSA's are $191, so it definitely depends.
None of these plans will have much (any) in the way of preventative care, etc. And a broken arm will come right out of your pocket for a couple k. You're max should be 5k if you get something terrible.
For a full featured plan I'd budget $400+. When I quit, my CORBA rate was going to be $542/month. (That's what my employer was paying for me)
This might be a slight advantage in the short run for those whose startups are successful.
What preventative and maintenance care exactly? I've lived in countries with (mostly) socialized health care all my life and I'm not noticing any government run preventative and maintenance care really.
Did you make the above up or do you have some links to it?
To take an example from dentistry: getting a biennial checkup, finding an early-stage developing cavity, and getting it fixed will most likely cost you under $200. Not getting the checkup and waiting until the tooth is abscessed and requires extraction, a root canal, or oral surgery can cost you $2000 or more. But if you don't have the $50 for the initial checkup, what are you supposed to do?
I bought mine there.
This will seriously reduce your need for insurance.
If you don't have the stones to live with bad insurance (unless you have serious prescription needs) you probably can't handle the risk associated with starting a company anyway.
There are cheap policies that keep my parents from flipping out. I pay $37 a month through anthem.
If you eliminate the stupid reasons, do you really need to worry about insurance?