$500 is the deductible. That’s the amount you pay for the privilege of actually using the insurance you’re already paying hundreds of dollars a month to carry. That doesn’t even count any potential out-of-pocket charges, which could be several thousand more dollars.

So you pay thousands of dollars a year for coverage you have to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars actually use but before you can do that you have pay hundreds or thousands more because, well, fuck you and then finally your insurance company will actually pay a bill but it’s possible they could just reject it after all that and then you’re just stuck with it and then you can’t afford your monthly premiums anymore because you’re injured, potentially earning a reduced income as a result and now have thousands of dollars in medical debt because your insurance company drops you entirely but of course they haven’t even paid any of the bills they already said they would so now those are on you too and you get to sell your family home to just barely clear the slate while your insurance company skips off into the sunset with about 35,000 of your money they had collected over the years.

But I wouldn’t know anything about any of that.