Your "free" health care is paid for by you and others. It's so expensive because of that. Healthcare wasn't particularly expensive before the government got involved in it.

Modern governments do indeed treat the citizens like children.

I've paid for my own health insurance ever since I became an adult.

If you don't have an HSA (Health Savings Account), consider setting one up. It's a very good deal.

I remember the day I phoned my dad and told him I didn't need any more support (I was in college at the time). It felt good to do that, it sure felt like I'd gone through a door. Interestingly, at that moment my dad switched from telling me what to do to advising me, and became my most trusted advisor.

A free market society is a society of adults.