That $5000 doesn’t cover premiums (usually a minimum of $100-200/mo) or copays for doctor’s visits ($20-30 for a regular visit, or $50+ for a specialist should you need one) or medications ($0-$2.1 million, yes, $2.1 million for the most expensive medication in the US - a drug for spinal muscular atrophy in kids less than 2 years old, could you imagine having a disabled kid & a drug company saying “we can fix them, got a spare $2.1 mil lying around?”) or any doctors or nurses who are out of your insurance’s network (this is where a lot of people get screwed in the hospital). My doctor informed me that when he was a resident, they were encouraged to inflate their paychecks by saying, “hi” to other patients - literally if they & the patient (not even their patient) look at each other in a room & they even ask how the patient is doing just while passing by, then that’s billable because it’s a doctor inquiring about a patient’s health. This is also where you’ll find tons of patients screaming about how they either never spoke with a doctor (yes, they did, they poked their heads in for half a sec & asked, “You doing okay?” while rushing down the hall) or they start getting multiple bills from several different doctors or the doctor on shift when the patient arrives is in-network, but the relieving physicians are out-of-network. The patient pays 100% of all out-of-network costs. Then there are cases where people have needed surgeries but the insurance company has decided you’re not sick enough for surgery, no matter what it’s for (even removal of squamous cells before they become full blown cancer) or how urgent your doctor says it is, but you have to have it, but you’ve spent so much on the treatments that when it gets severe enough for surgery you don’t have enough to cover that, so you sell everything you can so you can cover your treatment.
Your deductible doesn’t cover any of these things.
It’s entirely possible to get in a vehicle accident & be taken by ambulance to a hospital only to find the ambulance wasn’t covered because it’s contracted through a private company, the first physician you see is in your network but the radiologist (X-rays) isn’t, nor are the 2nd or 3rd physicians you see, some of the medicine given to you wasn’t covered by your insurance, & you’re there for 4 days. Your deductible in this doesn’t cover the radiologist, the 2nd or 3rd physician, or some of the medicine you’re administered. It only covers the 1st physician, the rest of the medicine administered, & the stay in the room. You’re on the hook for everything else.
Or maybe you’re unconscious & the ambulance takes you to the nearest hospital, which happens to be out-of-network for you with all out-of-network physicians - now you’re on the hook for the entire bill, all of it, every penny, your deductible doesn’t matter.
The bills for the hospital room, physicians, tests run by specialists, some medications, ambulance rides, etc, can be several thousand dollars each. Many people don’t have a spare several thousand tucked away &, frankly, think it’ll take the rest of their lives or longer to pay it back if done with a manageable payment plan. Thus bankruptcy.
Tl;dr - Examples