[dragonwriter]

> healthcare is more or less free if you're poor in the US

If you qualify for Medicaid, you have government-provided insurance available, but that doesn't mean care is free even then, because Medicaid rules allow state plans to incorporate either or both of premiums and beneficiary cost sharing as part of the state Medicaid plans.

Also note that many people (particularly adults) that would meet many definitions of poor are not qualified for Medicaid, because several states don't cover adults (especially non-parents) with Medicaid above a small fraction of the federal poverty level (and sometimes not at all for non-parents).

See, https://www.kff.org/health-reform/state-indicator/medicaid-i...