The biggest thing insurance does is limits risk. When you have insurance and get a big hospital bill, you generally have more bargaining power with the hospital than if you don't have insurance. When enrollment time comes run the numbers and look at the costs. You can also apply and review options on the health insurance marketplace which usually involves applying for Medicaid in the process. For kids under 18 Medicaid has a family income cap of like $8k/month so if you have kids they're definitely covered by Medicaid

Personally, I'm not sure what I'm going to do in 2026 if the subsidy isn't renewed. I'm an independent contractor so my health insurance options are entirely limited to the marketplace, and while I currently have a plan that costs $1250/month with the $1100/month subsidy I only pay $150/month for insurance which is quite reasonable. Every plan I saw on the marketplace cost a minimum of $900 or more per month.

I simply do not make enough (and I'm not allowed to work more hours than I currently am so that's not an option) to be able to afford insurance if the above math is the same for 2026. My plan right now is, keep job hunting and maybe my wife starts job hunting too since my contract work can work around the kids' school schedules (and my youngest starts going to school full time next year rather than half time) so we don't need a non-working parent as long as this contracting lasts for, and we probably won't get coverage through the marketplace in 2026 unless I can get it for about $400/month or less, because at that point I'm probably better off risking dumping more money into my emergency fund and hoping we don't have any medical emergencies (and planning on negotiating with the hospital if we do) I don't like the risk level of no insurance but we may simply be priced out of having insurance if the healthcare marketplace subsidy isn't renewed