It's really not that bad. The U.S. / French per capita difference in 2010 looks to have been about $5000, if I squint at the graph. That's $20,000 after taxes for a family of four. U.S. out-of-pocket costs for health care[1] and education[2] aren't nearly that high, especially if, as the article claims, they're only counting real cash income and not employee-paid health premiums and other benefits.

[1] http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cesan.nr0.htm

[2] https://www.salliemae.com/assets/Core/how-America-pays/howam...