alt Hacker NewsI'm right there with you - this is a case study in "perverse incentives." There is zero benefit to "paying into the system" to be had under the current model. Better to chance it and then sign up for a plan at the last minute since insurers can't deny you based on pre-conditions.
This strategy is why there are open-enrollment periods for ACA-compliant plans. I had a startup back in 2014 where I had us on HC.gov/ACA market insurance. A billing SNAFU on Blue Cross's part (that year was really rough for HC.gov!) ended up getting that insurance cancelled for nonpayment about a month in, which is when I discovered that our only coverage options were all non-compliant short-term policies, all of of which excluded preexisting conditions and wouldn't underwrite one of my children at all due to an unexplained seizure several years earlier.
(We resolved the situation by finding a bank-shot qualifying event that allowed us to re-enroll --- it was extremely situational and had to do with my wife and I simultaneously leaving our jobs within a short window of time.)