A lot of planning involves “what happens if I lose my job”, or “my current workplace is hell, and between that and taking care of kids I can barely even start looking for another job, and I can’t afford to take a couple of months off because that would mean I need to go on the private insurance market for a few months which would be ridiculously expensive with my special needs kid”.
Even if you’re in an ideal scenario, with a cushy job that provides great employer insurance, it’s not close to being as good as having high quality healthcare irrespective of whether you have a good job, terrible job, or no job.
COBRA is equally or even more expensive than private insurance at times. COBRA just guarantees that you get to keep the same insurance/coverage that you had with your employer but now you pay all costs out of pocket including employer portion which usually is a lot. To add to this, some employers charge an admin fee of 1-2% because they are managing this for you even after employment. So in total, you could pay upto 102% of the total cost of premiums.
I wish this socialist trope would die. I have never heard of a US programming job that didn't include staff healthcare, plus some dental and eyewear.
Some US companies also include family healthcare, for some there's a fee.