> People will just get sick and die
People may get COVID-19, but in general I would anticipate the rate of severe outcomes to be lower than we've seen given both the physical distance between people in the US versus more dense areas and the higher distribution of healthcare - we just have a lot more hospitals per person than China does.
> Hospitals will experience shortages and we'll try to back-stop those shortages via capitalistic solutions
That may happen, but Hospitals are also free to invest heavily in having their own supplies and we've already seen companies start shipping supplies in bulk. We are better positioned to address shortages than most other nations.
> I wouldn't rule out the possibility of even stories of straight-up bribery for hospital access to come up some years after this is all over.
That is far fetched and not tied to reality.
> we won't try to contain it beyond perfunctory measures
It would be surprising to see a formal quarantine. It is more likely some areas will have recommended quarantines and in general social distancing will be heavily encouraged.