Kayleigh
If people buy health insurance as individuals, there is no sharing of the risk pool. If you have a pre-existing condition, for example, you could end up paying significantly more (what would stop the insurers from doing that?)
While some health care decisions are “optional” (plastic surgery, flu shots), some are simply not a matter of choice (do I set this broken leg or let it heal crooked? Do I get dialysis or not?). So introducing health care insurance as a free-market capitalist “choice” like a tube of toothpaste is drawing a false equivalency.
And, consumer-driven insurance still does not take the profit margin or increasing costs out of the equation. Nor would it address higher out-of-pocket costs for those who are very ill but not wealthy.
My respectful opinion only. For very interesting but not exactly light reading: