re: #362 jamesfirecat

Could you present me with a reasonable picture of how life might work that doesn’t involve forced acceptance of everyone at ER’s?

Because at the moment as I see things if we didn’t have that, it would mean doctors would have to check your credit rating, your house, your car, etc before they could be sure you’d be able to pay for however much it costs to patch up that bullet wound in your chest.

I’m not trying to paint you into a corner I’m trying to get informed.

Is there a sane way to not have ERs treat people first and ask about payment later?

Hmmm, nope, no sane way, I worded that wrong. Here is what I meant with that one five word section of my post.

The Government promised ER’s that the bills of the truly indigent would be paid, by mandate of course, and then the funding dried up. Hospitals are still forced to take non-payers, and the jack up the prices to paying customers accordingly, we’ve all seen the bill for the Tylenol at $8 per pill. This higher rate is (somewhat) paid for by the insurance companies, which is then passed along to the consumer, the ones who are now paying taxes and insurance bills to cover the indigent at hospitals. That is the problem with intervention. Prior to that, did we have millions, or even hundreds of thousands, dying on the streets? No, we didn’t. They still were treated, and payment was either made or not made.

Okay, that is oversimplified, sure, but the gist is correct. I don’t want other humans to die because they didn’t get into an ER, but I do want some form of personal responsibility enforced, too many take advantage of the system, as system that is easily taken advantage of, because it was designed with altruism in mind, no facts. When something is perceived as ‘free’, people will use more of it.
Once again, there is no easy way to turn people away at the ER doors, and they shouldn’t be, but there is a better way to handle the aftermath, perhaps those that are determined to be able bodied and healthy by the same doctors that treated them could work to pay off the bills? Or, perhaps, they could take second and third jobs to pay off the birth of a child…it has been done.