My wife and I pay $8,000 a year for health insurance that doesn't cover dental or extended care, and we spent well over a thousand dollars for deductibles and uncovered services in the last year. Neither of us has been to the hospital for years, and the doctor's I've seen for recent back problems have ordered expensive tests that offered little chance of affecting their recommendations, they've been hostile to the idea of working with other practitioners or disciplines, and they've generally done little for me. Over the years, those who have been the most helpful - such as our chiropractors, acupuncturists and massage therapists - have frequently not wanted to deal with insurance because the insurance companies screw them over. When I was suffering severe muscle spasm's last year, I went to a clinic near my office and the doctor there wouldn't give me a simple prescription for a muscle relaxer. She must have thought I was a drug addict or something. Flexiril? C'mon.
In the last year, my father in law was killed by malpractice at at a Seattle hospital.
Our system "works" but it doesn't even come close to working well for me.