Those overcharges are in part an attempt to make up for all the free care provided in the emergency room
Just like the cost of apts, car insurance, home insurance etc is because of illegals.
I remember back a few years somewhere in the southeast there were a few doctors who had their own medical network and the prices were very low.
Independent doctors like me are becoming an endangered species
https://www.statnews.com/2024/02/15/independent-doctors-physician-owned-practices-congress-reimbursement/
More than 100,000 doctors have left private practice and become employees of hospitals and other corporate entities since 2019. Today, nearly three in four physicians are employees of larger health care entities or other corporations — a record high.
“Those overcharges are in part an attempt to make up for all the free care provided in the emergency room”
And that is the false justification and brainwashing story they use to perpetuate the scam.
The truth is, if they didn’t do that the average person could afford to pay out of pocket for their own healthcare. Just like it used to be in the 60s and 70s. We have already been there and done it before. The insurance industry messed it up by trying to negotiate and short pay on the bills. So it forced the medical industry to overcharge to make up for what the insurance companies were shorting them. It started long before all the free medical care was handed out.