>>>You are mistaken, this safety net existed for long time. It is called medicaid.
>>Not everyone is eligible for it.
>
>>Are you looking for luxury or for safety net? The latter is supposed to be, by definition, for people in need.
>
>Safety net. But the latter does not apply to all people in need.
>For this example: a person out of work with critical illness and without insurance (assume COBRA is too expensive). Im sure this situation is very common. How can that person get care? Obviously that person cannot qualify for Medicaid.

Why not? As soon as this person spends enough liquid assets on medical care to pass eligibility criteria he/she will receive Medicaid. One may consider it cruel, but it is exactly safety net in action. Anything better than that would be called luxury. Please, note that every person with cash in pockets has option to buy health insurance, this is an economic decision when things are Ok. When it gets worse, then at some very bad point safety net starts to work. Again, it is cruel, but I don't think that the opposite system, one that you experienced in Romania (extreme case, but essentially realistic) is more humane.