But it's more about peace of mind. What if I lose that high paying job? I'll suddenly be in trouble for medical fees. Or income for that matter.
That kind of security is really great to have. I wouldn't want to live in a country without it. The US has a kind of "every man for himself" attitude. It feels like it stems from the 'frontier' mindset. You can climb really high but also fall all the way down. And that's fine, to each their own. But it's not for me. I'm happy to just have enough to live comfortably and have a nice job and not have to worry too much. This is also why I'll never be an entrepreneur. I'm very happy being a salaried employee with the lower income but the rights and stability that come with it.
This is the most significant and initially intangible difference between US and EU healthcare. It takes a while to realize that in the US you are a source of money and a cost at the same time. At literally every step of the treatment process, everyone you meet will make it clear, either straight up or through an extreme efficiency, dehumanizing the whole process and leaving little room for a holistic approach to medicine, which is still predominant in the EU. The doctors in latter will actually spend time with you and if they figure problem is elsewhere, send you off to another specialist. In contrast, you and your insurer will be milked no matter what in the US.
Even if you do, for anything more serious, especially emergency, you still use the public health care. And you won't get a massive bill because an ambulance brought you to an out-of-network hospital.
The private healthcare is for regular outpatient care and, as such, substantially cheaper than the cost of insurance in US + all of the co-pays, coinsurance and out-of-network bills.
Source: EU citizen in the US since 6 years.