The least expensive health insurance plan can end up being the most expensive…

When people shop for health insurance, they sort by price and pick near the top. Completely understandable. But the monthly premium is only one number, and it's often the least important one.
Here's the dynamic that catches people off guard: insurance companies price plans to be profitable. When a premium is low, the cost doesn't disappear, it shifts. It shows up as a higher deductible, higher copays, a narrower provider network, high risk of application or claim denials, or a combination.
A real example of how this plays out: someone picks a plan at $95/month because it's cheap. Six months later they need an MRI and two specialist visits: $4,200 in billed charges. Insurance pays zero, because they haven't hit their $7,500 deductible. That "cheap" plan has now cost them $4,770 in six months.
The four factors that matter most, in my professional opinion, when comparing plans:

Premium: what you pay monthly to have the plan

Deductible: what you pay out of pocket before insurance starts covering anything

Out-of-pocket maximum: the most you can be on the hook for in a given year (this is your worst-case number)

Network: which doctors and hospitals are actually covered

The premium is one-fourth of the picture. The out-of-pocket maximum is the number most people never look at, and it's the one that determines whether a bad year is an inconvenience or a financial crisis.
For self-employed people and freelancers especially, this matters more than it does for people with employer coverage, because you're absorbing 100% of the cost yourself. Getting this wrong is expensive in both directions.
Always happy to answer questions if anyone's navigating this.