“In the U.S. I was not able to get insurance at all. That’s not quite true. I could have gotten insurance through the state government, but the cost of the insurance premium plus the cost of my rent was more than I earned each month. How would I have been able to eat?”
And this is precisely the problem. Everyone who proclaims how wonderful the US healthcare system is forgets that if you don’t have insurance, you get none of those benefits. Haifagirl was actually in better shape than many because for more than her monthly income she could have gotten insurance. People with disabilities or with pre-existing conditions would not even have that option. And the opponents of the Affordable Care Act have not suggested any alternatives.