Those same hospitals are also incentivized to rush an uninsured patient out the door as soon as possible. Serious, painful, but not immediately life-threatening

Those same hospitals are also incentivized to rush an uninsured patient out the door as soon as possible. Serious, painful, but not immediately life-threatening problem: give a random diagnosis and tell them to follow up with their nonexistent primary care doctor as soon as possible, and escort them out. In many states in the US, Medicaid or other insurance is not available to the homeless or indigent, not unless you have a disability diagnosis from the doctor you can't pay to see, and can get the necessary help to have that diagnosis recognized legally by the government. Otherwise cursory, rushed visits to the free clinic and ER are all that's available. Hospitals may be as minimally need-blind as required by law (if that, its not like the homeless can sue), but they only offer just that. The number of options and quality of medical treatment is vastly greater for those who can pay than for those who can't.