This is a very entitled and selfish statement. The act of simply existing is very expensive in the USA, and if you have children or have unexpected medical bills that can be tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands, you can easily eat through all of your savings very quickly and not be able to pay back debts I'm sure they could pay before they were laid off.
Someone who lives a lifestyle one typically associates with someone who's employment can be describes as "own office, secretaries and assistants, along with titles like “director” that spoke to her decades of experience" will become impoverished if they lose and do not quickly replace that job on any continent. It's not just a US thing.
It doesn't take a huge imagination to realise the unexpected could happen, especially at that age. If you have had a reasonable career in a well paying job then it is irresponsible not to put something away for a rainy day.
I'm not sure using the lack of socialised health care as an excuse for not managing your finances is sensible. It's only a minority that need expensive health care before 65 but it seems it's the majority who aren't managing to live within their means.