I suppose you are prepared to starting paying the tax penalty for not having insurance under the PPACA?
Just to break down costs: $600/mo health for wife/kid. $7200/yr. vs ~200/mo + 1000 penalty. $3400/yr.
We're not exactly getting Xrays and CT scans on a daily basis in my household! If my wife was to get pregnant, I know most hospitals offer a specialized bundle plan for dealing with the pregnancy for a set flat rate. All check ups, ultrasounds, single doctor, etc, for $6000.
There are exemptions for members of certain groups (IIRC, Native American tribes and religious groups that are opposed to the concept of insurance, like the Amish). There are also exemptions for participants in "health cost sharing ministries" [0]. My family pays $135/month for what, practically, functions like a high-deductible plan [1] -- a little more expensive than just paying the penalty, but it's worth it to mitigate the cost risk associated with catastrophic illness.
[0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_care_sharing_ministry . There's a list of Christian health-sharing ministries at http://www.healthcaresharing.org/ ; I don't know what other religions or non-religions might have similar programs.
[1] the friend who referred me to this signed up for a no deductible option. He was diagnosed with cancer a month later, and they covered everything.
Payment for health care is composed of two parts:
You pay about EUR 867 to 1,140 directly to an insurance company PER ADULT depending on how much you want to pay yourself in case of required care.
Then there's the socialized income dependent part of the insurance that's either payed via your employer or by yourself, which, in the latter case, is 5,65% over up to EUR ~51 K.
A family of two, each with an income > 51K then pays between EUR 7,480 to 8,026 (atm USD ~10K) each year for health insurance, subsidizing insurance for lower income groups.
http://www.horizon-bcbsnj.com/SiteGen/Uploads/Public/horizon...