As Mexican fast food places went, the little restaurant in a dormitory town in southern Connecticut was not too bad.

My wife and I started chatting with the owner and at some point during the conversation she mentioned that she had cancer and that her insurers had stopped paying for the drugs she needed because she had hit the benefit ceiling under her policy.

Six months later we were back in southern Connecticut, the Mexican place had gone and, presumably, the proprietor.

This was the US health system before the Affordable Care Act.

As flawed as Obamacare is, it at least put a stop to some of the most egregious excesses of the American healthcare system which were a disgrace.

The Trump administration, of course, wants to sweep away Obamacare. Given the president’s friendship with Nigel Farage, he might want to study Ukip's excellent health policy.

Ukip believes in a health service free at the point of delivery and a substantial increase public investment into care.

However, it looks as if the US administration is looking for an alternative free market solution which would see a huge array of policies on offer at a variety of prices.

It sounds rather like the way Americans buy pet insurance, but there you go.

In fairness, Mr Trump has at least said that he will not go back to the days when insurers could exclude people with pre-existing conditions.

The theory, as I understand it, is that selling cheap and cheerful insurance with minimal benefits will bring enough healthy young people into the pool to fund the needs of the older and sicker.

Of course the Democrats aren’t buying it nor, for different reasons, are some Republicans.