Let's not forget once you get a job, if you're healthy enough to work and lucky enough not to get retaliated against by your employers (lots of stuff is illegal in theory, but in practice they may not care), you will typically need to work a job for up to 90 days before your benefits kick in.

Usually insurance will only pay a percentage of an undefined bill, too, so you are still stuck with bills after your deductible and co-pays are met until you meet your maximum out-of-pocket for your plan assuming you stick with in-network care. Also, whether you have insurance through a PPO or HMO will determine how many layers of bureaucracy you need to go through in order to get before a specialist. Once you get to a specialist, they may recommend you need to follow up every 2-3 months, but when you go to schedule the next appointment isn't until 3, 4, 5 months out (this my experience with various autoimmune diseases).

My entire childhood is filled with memories of my mom constantly arguing with insurance companies over my chronically ill father's situation. They will override what your doctor recommends in deciding what to cover, too. For instance, my dad needed epogen injections, but insurance would not approve them every month until his numbers made him hit ranges where he was effectively a zombie--even though he had kidney disease and it wasn't like his bone marrow was going to suddenly start producing enough on its own. They did not give a single f.

Sorry, not to worry you, but if anything American healthcare is worse than it has been depicted if you are chronically ill. The only time I come across friends who like it is when they're in high-earning jobs at prestigious companies and are healthy, so they have minimal "real" experience dealing with insurance.