If you’ve ever felt frustrated by health insurance, you’re not alone.

People pay monthly premiums, still get bills, still face deductibles, still worry about networks—and it feels inefficient, unfair, and confusing. So it’s tempting to say, “The system is broken.”

But before we blame the system, we have to define the real problem.

The Problem: We Confuse Insurance With Healthcare

Most people expect health insurance to work like a subscription.

• Pay every month.

• Use the service whenever you want.

• Pay little or nothing at the point of care.

• See any doctor you choose.

• That expectation makes sense—because that’s how services work.

But insurance isn’t a service.

What Insurance Is Actually Designed to Do

Insurance exists for one reason:

👉 To transfer financial risk.

• Not to deliver healthcare.

• Not to manage routine expenses.

• Not to function like a membership.

Insurance is designed to protect you from unreasonable, catastrophic costs—the kind of events that could financially derail your life:

• Major surgeries

• Hospitalizations

• Serious diagnoses

• Accidents or emergencies

That’s why deductibles exist.

That’s why premiums are lower when routine care isn’t prepaid.

That’s why high-deductible plans exist at all.

When insurance is used for what it was designed for, it actually works very well.

Where the Frustration Comes From

The frustration starts when we expect insurance to pay for everything:

• Every doctor visit

• Every prescription

• Every lab

• Every specialist, anytime, anywhere

Those expenses aren’t unpredictable. They’re routine.

And insuring routine, predictable expenses is like buying insurance for groceries—it drives costs up without reducing real risk.

The Solution Most People Are Actually Looking For

When people say:

“I just want to see my doctor without a bill.”

or

“Why am I paying monthly and still paying when I go?”

What they’re usually describing isn’t insurance at all.

They’re describing direct care.

That’s why models like:

• Concierge medicine

• Direct primary care (DPC)

are growing so quickly.

These models function much more like a subscription:

• Monthly fee

• Easy access

• Transparent pricing

• Focus on care, not billing codes

And here’s the key detail most people miss:

👉 Even concierge doctors strongly recommend pairing their care with a high-deductible, catastrophic health plan.

Why?

Because the roles are different.

• Concierge care = routine, predictable healthcare

• Insurance = protection from financial disaster

Together, they often create less stress, more access, and better cost control.

Where the System Truly Breaks Down

The biggest inefficiencies aren’t accidental.

They happen when:

• One insurance structure is expected to fit everyone

• Choice is limited or penalized

• Risk can’t be priced honestly

• Politics overrides economics

People have different incomes, health needs, risk tolerance, and priorities. No single system—public or private—can reflect that reality without distortion.

When insurance is forced to act like healthcare delivery, costs blur, incentives break, and no one feels well served.

The Real Question We Should Be Asking

The conversation shouldn’t be:

“Why is health insurance so expensive?”

It should be:

“Why are we asking insurance to do something it was never designed to do?”

Until we clearly separate:

• Healthcare (how you access care)

• Insurance (how you protect against financial risk)

the frustration will continue.

Not because no one understands the problem—but because the system is structured to manage expectations instead of risk.

The Takeaway

If you want:

• Simple access to routine care

• Predictable monthly costs

• Minimal friction

You may not need “better insurance.”

You may need better alignment.

A care model for care.

An insurance model for risk.

When those roles are respected, everything gets clearer.

And that’s where real solutions start.

Where Mere Fits In

Understanding the difference between healthcare and insurance is empowering—but navigating the options still isn’t something most people want to do alone.

That’s where we come in.

At Mere, our role isn’t to push a one-size-fits-all plan or convince you that insurance should work differently than it does. Our role is to help you align coverage with reality—your health needs, your risk tolerance, and your budget.

For many people, that means separating the two jobs:

• Routine care handled through direct or concierge primary care

• Catastrophic risk protected with the right type of health insurance

If you’re curious about whether concierge or direct primary care could be a better fit for how you actually use healthcare, you can learn more about that model here:

👉 https://www.merebenefits.com/direct-primary-care

And if you want to explore catastrophic or high-deductible coverage options—including plans designed to protect you financially without overpaying for routine care—we can help you compare those options and understand the trade-offs.

Insurance doesn’t have to feel inefficient.

It just has to be used for what it was designed to do.

Our job is to help you get that part right—simply, clearly, and without pressure.