It depends on what income level you're talking about. Many low income people can't afford insurance and never receive healthcare until something catastrophic ha

It depends on what income level you're talking about. Many low income people can't afford insurance and never receive healthcare until something catastrophic happens, and in that case they go to the emergency room. Hospitals are required to provide treatment (though there have been scandals surrounding this in the past), and so they will and then afterwards just bill the uninsured low income patient an insane amount. Debt collectors will then hound the individual or family for quite a while afterwards. Its a very efficient system. ;-)