The bigger issue is people generally are accustomed to larger/bigger plan coverage from employers, and employers contribute a portion, skewing the 'real' price.
High deductible policies help A LOT, but I fear those are going to be harder to use under Obamacare (for seemingly ridiculous reasons). We're paying $330/month for a high deductible policy with $5k deductible. Would be close to $250/month for a $10k I think. And, I think, that's likely how it should be, vs paying $800-$1000/month for a plan with a low (or no!) deductible.
I've had friends say "well, I don't have $10k just sitting around in case there's a medical bill!" A few rebuttals to that mentality:
1. Some of these same people have no issues with financing new cars every few years.
2. You'd have $10k in savings much faster if you were only paying $400/month instead of $1400/month for insurance.
3. We had a big issue a couple years ago, and had an emergency room visit. That was January - we didn't get a bill until April, and it had a number to call to work out a payment plan - you can finance your emergency medical expenses.
I realize these numbers don't work out for everyone in all cases, but neither does employer-provided health care.