You're making the somewhat curious assumption that systematic neglect of "preventive" care (i.e. routine checkups) results directly in the "downside": large-scale, high-cost catastrophic events.
It certainly can, but from the point of view of statistics in human pathology, a complete non sequitur. For every person that neglects a checkup and misses early detection of a highly surreptitious, life-threatening disease, there will be ten for whom it either has no impact or results in low-grade, unremarkable chronic conditions that require occasional office visits and prescriptions.
Having to directly bear the cost of going to the doctor also provides a considerable incentive for leading a healthier life and staying away from bad habits with adverse medical consequences, in the same way that people are disincentivised to do avoidable things that hurt their financial standing in other areas.
It certainly can, but from the point of view of statistics in human pathology, a complete non sequitur. For every person that neglects a checkup and misses early detection of a highly surreptitious, life-threatening disease, there will be ten for whom it either has no impact or results in low-grade, unremarkable chronic conditions that require occasional office visits and prescriptions.
Having to directly bear the cost of going to the doctor also provides a considerable incentive for leading a healthier life and staying away from bad habits with adverse medical consequences, in the same way that people are disincentivised to do avoidable things that hurt their financial standing in other areas.