There is, but people only use it in emergency situations. Getting someone to the emergency room usually takes at least 10 minutes, so if the artery clogs 100%,

There is, but people only use it in emergency situations. Getting someone to the emergency room usually takes at least 10 minutes, so if the artery clogs 100%, it often results in death. The key factor in the above scenario was the exploratory treatment to figure out what was wrong, and discover the 99% clogged artery. Such treatment is possible in the US, but it will definitely rack up a huge bill if you decide to pursue it. You won't go to prison for nonpayment, but it's possible you'll lose your assets. And if your dependents need those assets, like a house, it's easy to make the "wrong" choice of avoiding treatment unless doctors know exactly what the problem is. Health insurance is ostensibly for this type of situation, but in reality if you're going to the hospital because "There's something wrong with me but nobody knows what," then the fear of insurance companies not covering it is very real. I don't know if they're legally allowed not to cover it in that scenario, but people have been screwed so often by insurance companies that the default decision making calculus is usually to assume the insurance company won't pay for anything. This all assumes that you're someone with a relatively standard job and life. If you're lucky enough to have good health insurance and a fair amount of savings, then none of this applies, of course, since you can just get treatment in the same way as the parent commenter.