Good question. This happened in a European country (Hungary) There the health care is free at the point of consumption, so there was no question if he will be

Good question. This happened in a European country (Hungary) There the health care is free at the point of consumption, so there was no question if he will be taken care of. The problem is if you were not paying your health insurance contributions prior to the illness, the tax authority might force you to pay the cost of your care after you are out of the hospital. Or at least that's how my dad explained to me his worry. Medical debt is not fun, but clearly tertiary to the problem of not breathing, in my opinion.