US Olympian Ariana Ramsey ‘so blown away’ by free healthcare in Olympic Village she’s joining fight for universal healthcare

You know you are an American abroad when a public attraction surprises you. Just ask American rugby player Ariana Ramsey, who, after winning the bronze medal along with her team, I documented a time when she received not only free food and chocolate muffins, but additionally free healthcare in the Paris Olympic Village.

Since arriving in the village, Ramsey has received free pap smears, dental treatment and eye exams. The experience was so meaningful that she said she would join the fight for universal healthcare in her home country.

“The fact that I’m so excited to get free dental care is crazy,” she said. in the movie with a caption declaring her an advocate for free health care. “This will be my new fight for action. Free health care in America. Period.”

While visiting an eye fixed doctor, the Bridgeport, Pennsylvania, man was shocked and impressed by the collection of free glasses he was offered.

“America needs to do a better job with its healthcare system because there is no reason why I, an American girl, should be so amazed by free healthcare,” she said in a later video. Some of her international followers also couldn’t consider her shock in the comments.

She added: “That’s what a lot of people are saying in the comments, but that’s just the way it is; we don’t have free health care in America.”

Many commenters were amused and even joked that in America you’ve gotten to be an Olympian to get free health care.

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One sec Free health care has been standard on the Olympics since 1932.Affordable and free health care is anything but standard in the U.S. It’s often surprising for outsiders to learn that the U.S. still operates under a privatized insurance system that forces many to pay for medical insurance through their employers. Government options remain expensive, with out-of-pocket costs and mediocre treatment for many, not to say the recent shift of members to long-established programs like Medicaid. As a Black woman, Ramsey must also consider how Black people have historically and continually been systemically disenfranchised from quality health care in this country.

While in Paris, Ramsey became something of an overnight Internet Olympic celebrity, updating her followers on all her goings-on, including an early meeting with Snoop Dogg, food reviews, other sporting events she was testing, and behind-the-scenes details.

In one other video posted this week, she recounts being recognized on TikTok outside the Olympic Village.

“Lol, I’m a healthcare girl, it’s official” she wrote in the caption under the video.