We had more medical expenses than normal this year...a broken arm, lacrosse stick to the throat requiring ER and an MRI, some PT...still didn't sniff meeting the deductible. All out of pocket.
Now the rub is that we pay the rates negotiated by the insurance companies...without insurance we'd have to pay close to double for all that stuff as well as full price for all of our preventative care. But it still wouldn't have exceeded the premium and deductible. And that's with paying 45% less that we will likely pay this year.
Are you sure that you'd pay more without the insurance company involvement? When I had a high deductible plan I was able to negotiate non insurance rates for different things, one being an MRI that was only $400 and not $1100 for the same procedure performed a couple of years earlier. Have you tried negotiating independently?