Hosts can choose from three different AirBNB cancellation policies for their places. If a refund is important to you either negotiate with the host beforehand or only pick the ones with last minute cancellation policies.
It's all about the risk, and who is taking that risk on. You can say that as a host I'm not technically "losing" money by having a booking cancelled and fully refunded. That might appear to be the case if you're the guest but as a host I rely on nights booked and paid for in order to pay the bills. As another commenter has mentioned, it's a legitimate business with very real costs.
So if I offer you a discounted stay that's non-refundable and you choose to take that discount, it's no different to picking a non-refundable seat on a flight and not being able to take the flight. As a host, my expenses are still very real whether you stay or not.
Here are the cancellation options that can be offered:
So look around for places that offer a more flexible refund, if that's important to you.
As to the question of rebooking, (also being a guest on the platform occasionally) I'm of the opinion that if you're unable to get a refund because of terms that were clearly spelled out to when you booked, you should be able to move your booking to a later time. I'd certainly allow it, but that's up to the goodwill of the host.
OT: we are removing our property from Airbnb for other reasons, including guests who smoked in and around the property when it was clearly advertised as non-smoking, even going so far as to remove the smoke alarms from the bedrooms and place them in the cupboard. 98% of our guests have been fantastic. The rest are disrespectful, entitled, complaining idiots that ruin it for everyone else. And trying to get AirBnB to do anything is a waste of time.
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