I'm a German engineer in the US. The thing with these stories is that they won't happen to you. If you're employed by a tech company you have great health insurance.

Of course, it still sucks that it can happen to someone at all and you might not want to live in such a society. That's a separate issue.

Speaking of SV, I think the cost of living and the social problems there have made it increasingly unattractive. Seattle is nice.