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No, not pretty much. Usually you end up in a lot of debt. But it is actually illegal in the US (last I checked) to actually turn away a dying person at the em

No, not pretty much. Usually you end up in a lot of debt. But it is actually illegal in the US (last I checked) to actually turn away a dying person at the emergency room because of a lack of coverage. Now, they may wish they had died when they get the bill, but that's another argument.

sp332 15y ago
Getting life-saving help at the ER is not the same as having access to drugs or other medical care that could have prevented you from needing emergency care in the first place. In fact, there have been studies proving that giving poorer people better access to medical care, even for little things, ends up being cheaper than limiting their care to emergency room visits only.
Symmetry 15y ago
And bankruptcy is much less painful in the US than in Europe, though you won't be able to get any sort of credit for quite a while.
jellicle 15y ago
Hospitals are obligated to provide care that will immediately save your life. They are not obligated - and won't - provide care to sustain your life. Suppose you have cancer. An operation costs $100,000. If you get it within six weeks, you live, otherwise, it metastasizes and you die. If you haven't got the $100K in the U.S., they won't operate, and are under no obligation to do so. It's not an emergent condition. Now, 16 weeks later when you're dying, they'll put you in a hospital bed, give you oxygen and morphine, and try to ease you into death - regardless of your ability to pay (though they'll try to get paid from your assets and your family, of course). But that "guaranteed" care is perhaps not as comforting as getting the operation and staying alive would have been.
vasco 15y ago
How do the hospitals get payed if people can't pay them? Do people go to jail because they had no money when they were about to die? This looks as efficient to hospitals as writing a bill to a rock or a tree
- tedunangst 15y ago
  The hospital charges the rich people more. It's socialized medicine, just set up differently than people expect.
  - Daniel_Newby 15y ago
    Not quite. The rich people have insurance policies that put the screws to the hospital to get an amazingly good deal. The make-up money comes from people who have crappy insurance policies and/or just enough money to pay. If you can spend the rest of your life paying off your hospital stay, you will.
    - sp332 15y ago
      The rich people have insurance policies that put the screws to the hospital to get an amazingly good deal. The make-up money comes from people who have crappy insurance policies and/or just enough money to pay. Hospitals over-charge a lot. If you call hospital billing and negotiate a bit, you can get a much lower bill. If you can spend the rest of your life paying off your hospital stay, you will. Well this part, I'm OK with. I will gladly take credit on my future earning in exchange for a shot at having future earnings.
- rgoddard 15y ago
  There is the HCRA surcharge (at least in New York state) that gets applied to many hospital and physician services. Part of the money from that is used to pay for these hospital services. Edit: Clarification
StavrosK 15y ago
We were talking about more long-term illnesses like cancer and the like, not emergency care, in that specific occasion.
- cobrausn 15y ago
  To be fair, everyone with cancer dies of it, the rich just generally get to try a few more (mostly unsuccessful) treatment options and extend life a bit (at quite the cost to them). My sister has cancer, hardly counts as rich, yet she got the chemo she needed. The bills are huge, but so far we have been able to pay them. I'm not closing the door to anything different from what we have, just saying that it's probably not as bad as you might think it is.
  - danmaz74 15y ago
    To be fair, most people with cancer don't die of it. It all depends on the kind of cancer, but these are the general statistics http://seer.cancer.gov/csr/1975_2009_pops09/browse_csr.php?section=2&page=sect_02_table.08.html http://seer.cancer.gov/csr/1975_2009_pops09/browse_csr.php?s...

sp332 15y ago

Getting life-saving help at the ER is not the same as having access to drugs or other medical care that could have prevented you from needing emergency care in the first place. In fact, there have been studies proving that giving poorer people better access to medical care, even for little things, ends up being cheaper than limiting their care to emergency room visits only.

Symmetry 15y ago

And bankruptcy is much less painful in the US than in Europe, though you won't be able to get any sort of credit for quite a while.

jellicle 15y ago

Hospitals are obligated to provide care that will immediately save your life. They are not obligated - and won't - provide care to sustain your life. Suppose you have cancer. An operation costs $100,000. If you get it within six weeks, you live, otherwise, it metastasizes and you die. If you haven't got the $100K in the U.S., they won't operate, and are under no obligation to do so. It's not an emergent condition. Now, 16 weeks later when you're dying, they'll put you in a hospital bed, give you oxygen and morphine, and try to ease you into death - regardless of your ability to pay (though they'll try to get paid from your assets and your family, of course). But that "guaranteed" care is perhaps not as comforting as getting the operation and staying alive would have been.

vasco 15y ago

How do the hospitals get payed if people can't pay them? Do people go to jail because they had no money when they were about to die? This looks as efficient to hospitals as writing a bill to a rock or a tree

tedunangst 15y ago
The hospital charges the rich people more. It's socialized medicine, just set up differently than people expect.
- Daniel_Newby 15y ago
  Not quite. The rich people have insurance policies that put the screws to the hospital to get an amazingly good deal. The make-up money comes from people who have crappy insurance policies and/or just enough money to pay. If you can spend the rest of your life paying off your hospital stay, you will.
  - sp332 15y ago
    The rich people have insurance policies that put the screws to the hospital to get an amazingly good deal. The make-up money comes from people who have crappy insurance policies and/or just enough money to pay. Hospitals over-charge a lot. If you call hospital billing and negotiate a bit, you can get a much lower bill. If you can spend the rest of your life paying off your hospital stay, you will. Well this part, I'm OK with. I will gladly take credit on my future earning in exchange for a shot at having future earnings.
rgoddard 15y ago
There is the HCRA surcharge (at least in New York state) that gets applied to many hospital and physician services. Part of the money from that is used to pay for these hospital services. Edit: Clarification

StavrosK 15y ago

We were talking about more long-term illnesses like cancer and the like, not emergency care, in that specific occasion.

cobrausn 15y ago
To be fair, everyone with cancer dies of it, the rich just generally get to try a few more (mostly unsuccessful) treatment options and extend life a bit (at quite the cost to them). My sister has cancer, hardly counts as rich, yet she got the chemo she needed. The bills are huge, but so far we have been able to pay them. I'm not closing the door to anything different from what we have, just saying that it's probably not as bad as you might think it is.
- danmaz74 15y ago
  To be fair, most people with cancer don't die of it. It all depends on the kind of cancer, but these are the general statistics http://seer.cancer.gov/csr/1975_2009_pops09/browse_csr.php?section=2&page=sect_02_table.08.html http://seer.cancer.gov/csr/1975_2009_pops09/browse_csr.php?s...