Unfortunately, that model was created before the insurance companies got into the healthcare system and (separately) some salaries inflated to unreasonable levels. Whatever we do going forward, we are going to have to accommodate the fact that private insurance has previously existed, and that some people currently…

If only there was model the US could work off of that would allow affordable health care for all that would not be subject to the whims of the marketplace and private corporations bottom lines. But alas, who can conceive of such a thing.....

This is what has happened in the books as well- but I think there’s a wider purpose. Martin has said that he always intended to reunite characters after drawing them apart to allow them to grow individually.