5 ms·

None of this is going to be resolved this week or month. THe next big thing to watch out for is the virus spread in the USA. Now, unless something changes, I

None of this is going to be resolved this week or month. THe next big thing to watch out for is the virus spread in the USA. Now, unless something changes, I am not overly hopeful in containment for the USA. The rumours of poor/non standard testing, and the limited access to healthcare is going to make one hell of a mess. Could a US person explain who pays for the test/on going healthcare if an uninsured person rocks up to the ER with relevant history and flu like symptoms? Does the government step in to fund care? or is it left to the hospital to foot the bill?

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
mdorazio 7y ago
Depends what you mean. The uninsured person is still technically liable for the price of care, which is why so many people in the US go bankrupt for healthcare reasons (you get a fat bill in the mail that you have absolutely no hope of paying). If they are completely unable to pay, the hospital foots whatever portion of the bill the person was unable to pay.
claudeganon 7y ago
The person would be billed, but if they can’t pay it, the hospital sicks debt collectors on them and maybe eats it down the road. Hospitals are pretty good at wrecking people’s lives to get their due though. There have been cases of them putting liens on people’s houses while their still hospitalized if the expected cost of treatment is expensive enough.
- lonelappde 7y ago
  The hospital sics debt collectors. The patients are already sick.
daeken 7y ago
> Could a US person explain who pays for the test/on going healthcare if an uninsured person rocks up to the ER with relevant history and flu like symptoms? > Does the government step in to fund care? or is it left to the hospital to foot the bill? AFAIK, currently it'd be just like if someone uninsured came in with any other illness: the hospital gives the care, the patient gets a bill they can't pay. The hospital essentially extends credit to the patient.
vondur 7y ago
Hospitals in the US with emergency rooms are not allowed to turn away patients who are sick. Ultimately it's the taxpayers who foot the bill. (Federal, State and Local Governments pay for it I believe.) This also explains why so many private hospitals have shut down their emergency rooms. I also believe that many private hospitals will transfer patients who cant pay to public hospitals.
- paublyrne 7y ago
  Is it likely that many people without insurance will be reticent to go, fearing they'll end up with a huge bill they can't afford?
  - claudeganon 7y ago
    Yes, self-rationing care is already a huge problem in the US.
  - kasey_junk 7y ago
    Actually most of the uninsured in the States are covered by public funds and consume more healthcare than other cohorts. It’s the underinsured and those with high deductible plans that may not go to a doctor due to cost, The outcome is the same but the health cohort might be a surprise depending on your mental model.
  - webninja 7y ago
    Many people with money but without insurance do go and get b*tch slapped later by their ~$10k-$200k medical bill. It’s a reason why medical debt is the LEADING cause of bankruptcy in the US. Many people without money or insurance also go but since they don’t have assets, they just don’t pay and the hospitals can’t collect on them. So the hospitals have to raise costs on people with money to pay for people without money. The second scenario actually caused a hospital I knew of in Dallas Texas to close down because it had (according to the locals) “too many illegal immigrants taking advantage of free healthcare”. Dallas Texas is somewhat close to the Mexico border. I personally knew of a vagrant woman with a prior medical issue that bragged about happily racking up the hospital over a million dollars in expenses after staying in a hospital bed for a few months. She didn’t express concern about having to pay for any of it since she doesn’t work. I wasn’t sure how to feel about that. I once paid $8k while my health insurance paid $43k when I spent just half a day in a hospital bed in Colorado after I fell and broke a bone.
Topgamer7 7y ago
From my understanding of the viral testing, the CDC distributes the tests to local healthcare professionals, however they don't seem providing enough to get in front of the issue. That is why there is an article floating around that the govn't of British Columbia (Canada) has tested more patients for COVID than the entire USA. I'm not super informed on the issue, take this with a grain of salt.
wilde 7y ago
This source is old, but maybe someone else will answer with a better one: taxpayers [1]. We just do so at a larger cost because we're willing to publicly fund emergencies but not preventative care. [1]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK221653/#_ddd00055_ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK221653/#_ddd00055_
- smnrchrds 7y ago
  When you say publicly fund emergencies, do you mean that it is covered, or that you will get a bill in the mail, but you won't be denied care; it's just that you have to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars after the fact?
  - wilde 7y ago
    I mean that federal and state goverments provide subsidies to the hospitals to cover the shortfalls that can't be billed. As an individual you still end up screwed.
aazaa 7y ago
> Could a US person explain who pays for the test/on going healthcare if an uninsured person rocks up to the ER with relevant history and flu like symptoms? They don't. They keep working because there's no way to afford the time off or the sick child care, even if the taxpayer does foot the bill for the ER visit. Kids keep going to school and adults keep rocking into work. That especially goes for food service workers.
- rayhendricks 7y ago
  When you combine high-deductible health insurance plans with no paid sickleave which is really common in foodservice and bars, it’s just asking for something like coronavirus to spread. Also Coronavirus doesn’t know the difference between someone making minimum wage and $10million/year. This can and will cause an economic downturn, possibly a recession. Hopefully we as a nation get it though our heads that universal healthcare and paid sick leave is something that is needed to prevent further disease outbreaks.
trhway 7y ago
In our BigCo they've already instituted the "tell on your officemate" policy which is easy to do thanks to the beautiful densely packed open floor plan. So we're prepared and will do great.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

mdorazio 7y ago

Depends what you mean. The uninsured person is still technically liable for the price of care, which is why so many people in the US go bankrupt for healthcare reasons (you get a fat bill in the mail that you have absolutely no hope of paying). If they are completely unable to pay, the hospital foots whatever portion of the bill the person was unable to pay.

claudeganon 7y ago

The person would be billed, but if they can’t pay it, the hospital sicks debt collectors on them and maybe eats it down the road. Hospitals are pretty good at wrecking people’s lives to get their due though. There have been cases of them putting liens on people’s houses while their still hospitalized if the expected cost of treatment is expensive enough.

lonelappde 7y ago
The hospital sics debt collectors. The patients are already sick.

daeken 7y ago

> Could a US person explain who pays for the test/on going healthcare if an uninsured person rocks up to the ER with relevant history and flu like symptoms? > Does the government step in to fund care? or is it left to the hospital to foot the bill? AFAIK, currently it'd be just like if someone uninsured came in with any other illness: the hospital gives the care, the patient gets a bill they can't pay. The hospital essentially extends credit to the patient.

vondur 7y ago

Hospitals in the US with emergency rooms are not allowed to turn away patients who are sick. Ultimately it's the taxpayers who foot the bill. (Federal, State and Local Governments pay for it I believe.) This also explains why so many private hospitals have shut down their emergency rooms. I also believe that many private hospitals will transfer patients who cant pay to public hospitals.

paublyrne 7y ago
Is it likely that many people without insurance will be reticent to go, fearing they'll end up with a huge bill they can't afford?
- claudeganon 7y ago
  Yes, self-rationing care is already a huge problem in the US.
- kasey_junk 7y ago
  Actually most of the uninsured in the States are covered by public funds and consume more healthcare than other cohorts. It’s the underinsured and those with high deductible plans that may not go to a doctor due to cost, The outcome is the same but the health cohort might be a surprise depending on your mental model.
- webninja 7y ago
  Many people with money but without insurance do go and get b*tch slapped later by their ~$10k-$200k medical bill. It’s a reason why medical debt is the LEADING cause of bankruptcy in the US. Many people without money or insurance also go but since they don’t have assets, they just don’t pay and the hospitals can’t collect on them. So the hospitals have to raise costs on people with money to pay for people without money. The second scenario actually caused a hospital I knew of in Dallas Texas to close down because it had (according to the locals) “too many illegal immigrants taking advantage of free healthcare”. Dallas Texas is somewhat close to the Mexico border. I personally knew of a vagrant woman with a prior medical issue that bragged about happily racking up the hospital over a million dollars in expenses after staying in a hospital bed for a few months. She didn’t express concern about having to pay for any of it since she doesn’t work. I wasn’t sure how to feel about that. I once paid $8k while my health insurance paid $43k when I spent just half a day in a hospital bed in Colorado after I fell and broke a bone.

Topgamer7 7y ago

From my understanding of the viral testing, the CDC distributes the tests to local healthcare professionals, however they don't seem providing enough to get in front of the issue. That is why there is an article floating around that the govn't of British Columbia (Canada) has tested more patients for COVID than the entire USA. I'm not super informed on the issue, take this with a grain of salt.

wilde 7y ago

This source is old, but maybe someone else will answer with a better one: taxpayers [1]. We just do so at a larger cost because we're willing to publicly fund emergencies but not preventative care. [1]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK221653/#_ddd00055_ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK221653/#_ddd00055_

smnrchrds 7y ago
When you say publicly fund emergencies, do you mean that it is covered, or that you will get a bill in the mail, but you won't be denied care; it's just that you have to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars after the fact?
- wilde 7y ago
  I mean that federal and state goverments provide subsidies to the hospitals to cover the shortfalls that can't be billed. As an individual you still end up screwed.

aazaa 7y ago

> Could a US person explain who pays for the test/on going healthcare if an uninsured person rocks up to the ER with relevant history and flu like symptoms? They don't. They keep working because there's no way to afford the time off or the sick child care, even if the taxpayer does foot the bill for the ER visit. Kids keep going to school and adults keep rocking into work. That especially goes for food service workers.

rayhendricks 7y ago
When you combine high-deductible health insurance plans with no paid sickleave which is really common in foodservice and bars, it’s just asking for something like coronavirus to spread. Also Coronavirus doesn’t know the difference between someone making minimum wage and $10million/year. This can and will cause an economic downturn, possibly a recession. Hopefully we as a nation get it though our heads that universal healthcare and paid sick leave is something that is needed to prevent further disease outbreaks.

trhway 7y ago

In our BigCo they've already instituted the "tell on your officemate" policy which is easy to do thanks to the beautiful densely packed open floor plan. So we're prepared and will do great.