> There's COBRA for that! If you quit your job, you can continue your previous employer's coverage for up to 18 months, but you'll have to pay the premiums yourself.
That's not really a consolation if the premiums are really expensive.
> And it's typically cheaper than what is available on exchanges. You can also get a subsidy for COBRA if you can't pay premiums, but only if you were fired.
"Typically" yes, but not always. I mentioned in a sibling thread that when I was fired from a job and was on COBRA, the premiums were almost 4 grand a month.
It was so expensive that I actually started calling up different insurance companies in the NYC area, because the premiums were slightly lower even just paying out of pocket, and luckily I narrowly qualified for a medicaid thing, and it ended up being free through the MetroPlus network [1], so it all worked out, but my point is that COBRA isn't always cheap.
> We have universal healthcare: Medicare and Medicaid.
Medicare and Medicaid are great programs, I'm very glad they exist, I think it would be horrible if they were taken away. That said, they're not "universal" healthcare. It's pretty easy to fall through the gaps where you're "too rich for Medicaid" but "too young for Medicare".
Anecdata, but my brother in law does work for a living, as does his wife, and together they end up making somewhere around $75,000/year in Texas. Not a terrible wage, people have certainly lived on a lot less, but neither of their jobs have health insurance, and they make too much together to get it for free from the state.
[1] If you ever get fired in NYC, I'm sorry to hear that, but do not hesitate to call MetroPlus. The agents there was extremely nice, helpful, and without an ounce of sarcasm I think that their existence makes the world a better place.