CA- husband doesn’t want to pay for health insurance

I have been on Medi-Cal for years but am no longer eligible due to my household income. Probably have not been eligible for a while, but everything was on hold during COVID. Also not eligible for reduced cost plans through Covered California. My employer will pay my premiums, but I will likely be looking at $300-400 a month for my daughter. My husband works for minimum wage and I make about twice what he does so I am the primary financial support and am nervous about affording insurance along with co-pays, deductibles, etc. Adding him to my plan would more than double the monthly cost, so I have asked him to look into obtaining coverage through his employer.

Here’s where the issue is- he would rather not have insurance than pay the monthly costs since his checks are already so small and he also pays child support for his other two children. The coverage through his work is cheaper than adding him to my plan or going to marketplace, but he still doesn’t think it’s worth it since he doesn’t go to the doctor much anyway.

We are barely scraping by now so I get where he’s coming from, but we will also be penalized on our taxes if he is not insured since we live in CA. My main concern is the financial risk we would be taking on with him going uninsured. We cannot afford thousands of dollars out of pocket if an emergency happens and he has to go to the hospital. He is in his mid-30s, smokes a pack a day, and has a poor diet with little exercise so it seems inevitable that health issues will start cropping up soon. I feel like this is a financial risk that could have huge negative implications for both of us- am I wrong? Is this not as big of a deal as I think it is?