Isn't it incredibly hard to find insurance if this is the case? Quite curious how it works in the US. I think this all changed under the Affordable Care Act??

Here in the UK it's hard to find insurance that would accept you with a chronic illness unless it's quite low-risk. The only way I was able to "lock-in" a policy was by contuining a medical-history-agnostic one I had under an employer. To get it as a private citizen would have been impossible due to my medical history. So basically I'm now never letting that policy go. TBF the main reason to get private health insurance in the UK is for a shorter waiting list and better aftercare or rehab, but it can also provide hugely life-changing medical intervention if you can carry the policy into old age, AFAIK.

But yeh.. I'm privately uninsurable. I cannot purchase life insurance anywhere ... trust me I've tried. Which is funny because I thought the whole point of insurance was to equitably balance out the risk amongst a collective. Ultimately, for me, the whole point with insurance is that it can cover you if something super-super-awful happens. It protects from financial ruin in the case that e.g. you need life-saving emergency surgery. It's there for the unpredictable.. not routine dental appointments lol.