Like imagine you suffer injuries in an armed robbery, or from a hurricane or other severe climactic event. Do the hospitals still expect you to pay money even in those cases? I imagine it also applies to police brutality.
I ask because an acquaintance got a broken leg from being ran over by police in a protest recently and, naturally, everybody just called an ambulance and they got to the hospital and that was that, because free healthcare here is a universal right (even if severely underfunded). But then with the recent protests in the US I realised even getting a broken finger from being handcuffed could actually cost people real money.
Your instinct is correct: the reason for injury doesn’t matter, you shall pay. Welcome to the US of A where peasants be screwed by capitalists and the peasants usually ask for more of the same.
Also consider that only emergency stabilizing treatment must be provided without upfront payment. Many emergency depts don’t treat breaks, they just refer you to an orthopedist to set the break, which must be paid before treatment. And then also consider that the ER doctor might not be in network for your insurance even if the hospital is in network. And that the radiologist is another Dr so same thing applies
This is one of the more insidious aspects, because you can’t shop around for in-network treatment in an emergency.
Take a look at the “no surprises act” passed in 2022. It makes this kind of approach illegal.
I had forgotten about this, thank you for sharing. That law doesn’t provide full protection though, like it doesn’t apply to ambulances, you can sign away your protections after you’re stabilized & the estimate is only required for uninsured if they ask for it. But it has way more protections than we used to get. Not as good as socialized healthcare, but better than nothing
i was in a car accident, of my own fault, and ended up going to the hospital in an ambulance where they checked me out found nothing wrong with me and released me straight to jail.
the hospital said i owed them $6000 for that and another $250 for the ambulance ride (this was a long time ago).
I never paid a dime of any of that. I got a lot of collection agency letters but i moved around a couple of times in the next two years and i think they just gave up.
I never paid a dime of any of that. I got a lot of collection agency letters but i moved around a couple of times in the next two years and i think they just gave up.
Sometimes this is the way to go, but first look into what it takes to dodge collection agencies for the next three to six years. It’s a skill set and commitment that requires discipline. If they catch you off-guard, then at best the statute of limitations clock resets, and at worst you’ll have a court order for even more than your original debt.
oh damn, i never knew about court orders! never heard of that being a thing
That’s what can happen when they take you to court and you lose. Then the state may garner your wages or even seize you property. But usually, I think, people make a deal out of court.
No. I had a dental emergency where I had an infection burrowing through from the top of my jawbone to the bottom of my jawbone like a little tunnel. I used every measure of financial aid with insurance and still ended up owing over a grand. Impacted wisdom tooth that turned bad.
They are legally required to help no matter your ability to pay but that doesn’t mean they won’t try their best to force you into debt after
You are responsible for the bill, period, unless you get a grant or judgement in your favor. Or gofundme.
The lack of universal healthcare coverage in the US is not the only problems of healthcare management in Western countries. The poor planning by Canadian government and bad treatment of Canadian nurses encourages many nurses to either quit their nursing career, continue their nursing career in the US, or move to the private healthcare sector. Even the initiative to hire more foreign nurses does not compensate for the shortage of nurses. This creates a vicious cycle where the low nurses per demand puts more unsustainable workload on the remaining nurses which, in turn, cause more nurses to quit their jobs. The nurse shortage also creates shortage of senior nurses that can train new nurses for the vicious cycle. The most absurd part of this is that the Canadian media is focusing the public attention to the danger of Donald Trump and “repressive” governments on other countries while negating public attention to the vicious cycle of nurse shortage.
Generally speaking, no. However, depending on the hospital in question and their policies, there are hospitals who will waive the cost if you are a victim of a crime. I happen to know this because there is a local hospital near me that do exactly this. Some other hospitals-- again depending on the individual hospital-- have programs where they can assist (or at least help somehow) with the cost for patients who are unable to foot the bill due of a lack of resources. But that is not every hospital, and more than likely you will be expected to foot the bill no matter what.
