Nice to know what's happening in America... So what's happening in the UK?
The present 'reforms'? I don't really understand them either. To my knowledge the reforms are just yet another reorganisation of the NHS that will result in absolutely no difference just as the countless reforms governments over the years have taken have made little to no difference. Opponents like Rufus Hound keep calling it privatisation, but I see no evidence of this - partial privatisation (which was a disaster - PFI schemes) took place under the last Labour Government and was mainly focused on hospital buildings. In other words, it was a way for Gordon Brown to spend spend spend but keep it off the books.
The middle class people with nice jobs that covered insurance could afford health care, what about those on minimum wage? The NHS might not be the most efficient but it's way better than people having to remortgage their homes to pay for chemotherapy. If anything, Obamacare is a step in the right direction.
The free market already caters for the poorer and students with cheaper insurance. If you take a look at the American healthcare market there are cheaper deals offered for students because companies have an interest in hoovering up those in that market and thus compete by lowering prices. Supply and demand. And see, 'Obamacare is a step in the right direction' you say even though people's healthcare plans that they were fine with are being cancelled. Now that's dogmatic. The same for people having to put their houses up to pay for treatment - that's usually because they didn't buy insurance or couldn't afford insurance (due to Government subsidies pushing the prices up).
When government starts offering subsidies, the prices increase - because companies naturally then would rather take government money (which they can squeeze more out of) than less private money from individuals. Again, not the fault of the consumer or company - fault of the government.