It's been like that in the US like forever. Once you actually have medical problems. The main difference is the whole going bankrupt thing.
US healthcare moves much faster and turnaround to getting a new appointment with a specialist is a fraction of the time in the UK (NHS only).
My SO had a personal health issue that she attempted to get help for in the UK. She had to wait months for a GP appointment with the NHS, only to be told "let's monitor the issue" instead of actually doing anything. We went home to the US (making an appointment <2w in advance) and we saw a doctor who immediately found the underlying issue and had it fixed.
I could go on about the health system in the UK...
edit: Ha even the article talks about this! "I am in the system for NHS treatment, but things are so bad that I have not even received an inital letter with a date for a test. It would likely take up to year for the NHS to treat me."
US healthcare really does seem to want to bankrupt people. As an example, most insurance doesn't cover dental care, which is (in)famously one of the parts of the body that needs the most maintenance.
My insurance doesn't cover my ADHD meds because I have to take more than 1 pill a day. $80/mo for the rest of my life if I want to treat a disorder. (My case is pretty bad, too.)
I (hopefully?!) have decades of life left, and $80/mo is almost $1,000/year. Not super cheap. I actually can't afford this on my own income and have to rely on a family member to help.
Because dental costs are more reasonable, insurance premiums don't tend to be very high and can be purchased outside of your main health plan. If primary medical costs were more on par with dental costs (as it probably did once upon a time, when the offerings were much more primitive), insurance wouldn't be such a big issue.