They go broke. The exact number is disputed [0], but health costs are a major cause of bankruptcy in the USA (as opposed to most other developed countries where

They go broke. The exact number is disputed [0], but health costs are a major cause of bankruptcy in the USA (as opposed to most other developed countries where this uncertainty about costs doesn't exist). I discovered an interesting fact the other day about the US's massive % of GDP spent on health; they spend about the same % of public monies on health that other developed countries do, the extra % is private spending! [1] Anecdata: I am in Australia and have private health insurance (notably: otherwise I'd be paying an extra tax levy and be worse of in $ terms), but all that has meant is that I can go to a private hospital instead of a public one for elective surgery. For ~$2k a year. A few years back I broke both my collarbone and my ankle on separate occasions. The ankle repair was entirely free. The collarbone was setting too slowly (opportunity cost: I needed to get back to work ASAP... normally they just put your arm in a sling and let it stitch naturally), so I opted to have a surgical repair, which was about $2k all up for the out-of-pockets. [0]: https://www.thebalance.com/medical-bankruptcy-statistics-4154729 https://www.thebalance.com/medical-bankruptcy-statistics-415... [1]: https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/health-spending-u-s-compare-countries/#item-u-s-similar-public-spending-private-sector-spending-triple-comparable-countries https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/health-...