Three weeks after we landed in Ireland we had to take the five-month-old baby to the ER (it ended up being something very easily treated, and he is 100% fine). When they were releasing us, a nurse very apologetically told me that, since we were so new in the country and did not yet have all of our residency documents in place, they would unfortunately have to charge us for his care. If we had our residency permits, she explained, healthcare is completely free for children under the age of five. My husband and I both nearly fainted.

And the emergency room bill we had to pay because we weren’t yet officially documented residents? €254. That was the total—including care, testing, and medication—not what was leftover after insurance paid the rest.

It doesn’t have to be the way it is in the US. The staggering majority of Americans just have no idea anything different is possible.