the pool effect works..companies have been doing it for years with other insurances..it keeps costs down and encourages proactivity with your health status..it's been proven..if you choose to be uninsured and opt out that's your right as an american..step to the side and pay your 95$ opt out fee..but you are cutting off your nose to spite your face, because for the same 95$ you could have at the very least, a catastrophic policy with already negotiated pricing which I believe someone mentioned (on this board, maybe you) that they already do this..you might as well have something to show for it.
The real reason companies offer insurance is for the tax benefit. If you make $50,000 a year and get paid $50,000 a year, 100% of it is taxable. If you take $45,000 cash and $5,000 in health insurance benefits, only $45,000 is taxable. Employer-sponsored insurance amounts to a tax shelter worth hundreds of billions of dollars a for employees.
If you made $50,000 a year and spent $5,000 on your own insurance plan, you wouldn't get the tax benefit.