4 ms·

so when I get into a car accident and am bleeding internally, I can march down the street to the next hospital if I think the bill at the one I'm at is too high

• agent008t 8y ago
  No; but suppose we agree that emergency response services (fire, medical, police) should be state-run. The goal of such state-run ER is to get you as quickly as possible to a hospital, where care can be provided. The state can then shop around for the cheapest/best private provider for each catchment area. One could also make a case that the state should pay for this emergency care out of tax money - unless the state can show that you were the one responsible (e.g. if you end up in a hospital because of excessive drinking on a night out - taxpayers should not have to pay for you in this case). But such true emergency response seems like actually a very minor part of all medical care. It would be better for people to have private emergency arrangements through their insurance - but, of course, this is not always viable (if you are bleeding out in a car accident, there is no time to figure out which hospital you have a deal with), so that is one area where the state should probably be involved.
• conanbatt 8y ago
  The decision is done before the accident, when you pick insurance.