That's not true, personal bankruptcies due to medical bills went down, but aren't down to zero.
https://www.consumerreports.org/personal-bankruptcy/how-the-aca-drove-down-personal-bankruptcy/
"If every company was required to provide good benefits to all workers, no part time shenanigans allowed..." Can I just stop you right there?
I worked for a PBM(Pharmacy Benefit Manager) for 9 years, straddling both the years before the ACA was enacted, and the years after it was enacted. Let me tell you a few things, first, not much changed benefit wise outside of some coverage requirements(covering children till 26 instead of 18, etc.) Outside of that, the usual shenanigans occurred, hugely overpriced copays for drugs is normal particularly when you have access to the real pricing tables breaking down each cost between the patient, what the drug costs(uninsured) and what the group benefit pays. Americans are getting reamed on drug prices.
We managed hundreds of plans, and these were upper tier plans, for Unions and Employers, and they still sucked sometimes. Especially for certain unions like IBEW, Pipefitters, and Ironworkers, the workers find they they were short a few hours that month, so their insurance gets completely cut off for the next month, until hours pick up again, etc. And the cycle along with the loud, expletive laden complaints continue.
The problem with your comparison is that these United States are a bunch of States, and some of them, such as Missouri, have deemed that the poor should die of preventable illnesses. They sued and continue to sue to get ACA and/or provisions of it overturned. Do you honestly think they would vote to regulate benefits businesses provide? France has departments but its national government takes precedence to such an extent that you can have on par regulations and benefits regardless of whether you live in Paris or in Marseilles. You cannot say the same of the United States. Our Medicaid program by itself is a bloody basket case. I'm a childless man, I can't get on Medicare here in Missouri even if I was homeless with less than 50 cents in my pocket.
We are a country of 50+ petty little fiefdoms and only some of them act responsibly towards the majority of citizens within their borders.
One of the biggest reforms that would be necessary would be to have a public option that picks up where employer provided plans fall short, for example, if your hours are cut, or business slows down. But that sounds to me like single payer with extra steps. I also don't understand the usefulness of having handing tax-payer money to private non-profits to manage health insurance. That's just adding costs into the system for unnecessary middle-men.
Our current system of employer provided health insurance is on life support anyways, the largest private employers in the country have hardly any full time employees anymore. Most service jobs are part-time, or they have hour requirements that most employees can never meet on a consistent enough basis, so they work "full time" but not really, if you catch my drift. The ACA did help provide a floor for coverage, so people can get treated, sometimes, and I agree it needs to be strengthened. The Pre-existing condition clause is extremely important. How are you going to change employment practices in the United States, France is much more labor friendly, and still has difficulties sometimes.
See, I view attempting to changed how we do employment benefits in the US to be far less realistic than expanding and improving Medicare, which is a very popular program. My fiancee is on it, and if she wasn't she would be dead by now, she has several chronic conditions, and wouldn't have gotten coverage through any private carrier due to them. Hell, she uses a Medicare Advantage plan, and we are beginning to not see the advantage of it and may end up going to straight Medicare again. They are just an insidious privatization scheme anyways.
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