This is one of the reasons why I'm an advocate of good public universal health care. Too bad it's not available everywhere. But this is a discussion for another thread/post.

I have a high deductible plan for $280/month. I live in an inexpensive area (Boise, Idaho) and my wife and I are both young (22) so it is cheap. We also keep at least $5k in a medical savings account.

Here's an interesting article about how one family deals with the issue: http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/11/01/our-new-237-per-mo...