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Originally Posted by Rolexatlast
Out of curiosity, what are the arrangements for payment in the US?
If you don’t have insurance, and cannot afford treatment, who pays the bill?
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There is a program called “Medicaid”, a poor substitute for insurance for the poor, paid for by the government. It pays providers well below market rate, so many do not accept it.
If someone does not have Medicaid, does not have a doctor nearby, and has no insurance, there are county hospitals. County hospitals are operated by the county, and treat everybody. If you have insurance or the ability to pay, you pay. If you don’t, they treat you anyway. County hospitals do all the things other hospitals do, but tend to be a little rougher, as the poor citizens and undocumented immigrants use their ER in lieu of a regular doctor’s clinic. If someone goes to a county hospital and needs something not provided there, the doctor refers them and the social worker makes it happen.
I live in Arlington, Texas. There is a very good children’s hospital in nearby Fort Worth. My newborn daughter’s life was saved there when she was an infant. There was no distinguishing in care or treatment between any of the children- insured or not. As there shouldn’t be. I don’t know if doctors in hospitals are aware of who does and doesn’t have insurance, but they sure act like they don’t know (or care).