In the US, what happens if you sustain a life threatening injury and you don't have insurance?

NaibofTabr, 10 months ago (edited 10 months ago)

Emergency rooms are legally required to provide treatment, and will do so even for non-life-threatening conditions.

If you don’t have insurance coverage but can pay, you will get a bill. If you can’t pay, in most cases the hospital will write off the debt.

MxM111, 10 months ago

Also quite often charities step in to help with the bill.

52fighters, 10 months ago

Most hospitals are setup as non-profit entities and use medical debt write-offs to exhibit their charity. In all truth, they intentionally drive their own expenses sky high to increase revenue to astronomical levels so to give executives running these organizations excessively high compensation. These write-offs are just part of the gig.

nottelling, 10 months ago

Hospitals haven’t been non profit since they were delayed in the early 1980s, and are absolutely structured for profit, with shareholders and conglomerate ownership and everything.

The medical write offs are exactly that. Tax avoidance.

Drusas, 10 months ago

They absolutely will not write off the debt in most cases. They'll get you on a payment plan.

AlexWIWA, 10 months ago

If you’re lucky you’ll be a kid on CHIP. Otherwise you’re financially fucked

robbankz, 10 months ago

life threatening means no insurance will be necessary so why bother