<prompt> Human: This is more theoretical than anything.I spend about 500 dollars a year on health care, but 8,000 on insurance. I never hit my deductible but have a huge emergency fund that could cover thousands of dollars of emergencies.My curiosity is- if I get cancer, could I simply sign up for insurance after the fact? Is there anything to this theoretical idea assuming I can wait 12 months to fix any major medical issue?Assistant: First, look at your particular situation, because this is why the ACA fine exists, if you dont have insurance they fine you on your taxes, its 2.5 of your income or 695, whichever is higher or 2085 if thats lower. So what is your income? Assuming you make 100k or so your cost of insurance is actually 6k, not 8k, and its very likely that without insurance that 500yr will raise to 1kyr because you lose the automatic negotiation of your prices.Anyways, I think the thing to worry about is if you break a leg or something, if you sign up after getting into the hospital, the new insurance doesnt have to cover stuff youve already been billed for. Youre easily talking many tens of thousands. And what about a heart attack? I cant imagine how much that costs. Yea, a car crash should cover most of it for a car crash, but how is your coverage for that?Human: You named events, but what are my probabilities of those events happening?I mentioned above if the odds are less than 10, I still keep more money than Id spend on average.Im a math guy, and Id like to really weigh the risk of costs between 12,000-100,000 dollars. What are my yearly odds of spending that amount on medical care?Assistant: Low. But why are you putting a max of 100,000? If something catastrophic happens, you could easily be on the hook for way more than 100k.Human: I think Ill have medical insurance by the time it exceeds 100k.Assistant: Are you aware that you cant just enroll in a health plan whenever you feel like it? Once you have opted out, you cant opt back in until an open enrollment period comes around again.Human: You can buy online...  <response>: Yeah. Im aware. Open enrollment for 2017 just ended on January 31 Enrollment does not open again until November 1, for plans starting January 1, 2018. Outside of that, your only options are Medicaid only if you qualify, and non-ACA compliant plans, which almost certainly will not provide adequate coverage for your needs. 