Doctors and nurses don’t know if you have insurance. Are we supposed to believe the receptionist runs into the ER and tells the doctors to quit working on an uninsured patient? Insurance is the last thing on a doctor’s mind while he attends to patients in the ER.
The last time I was in the hospital, I wasn’t even asked about insurance until after I was admitted...from the emergency room.
Well, the receptionists should be telling the doctors who is and who is not a paying customer.
If not, those who are responsible and actually carry health insurance will not receive adequate treatment as medical resources and my tax dollars are wasted on deadbeats who refuse to carry health insurance.
When I was 18, I broke my pelvis in an accident. Someone drove me to the emergency room (at a for-profit hospital). I ended up being admitted into the hospital for 11 days. I didn't have insurance, nor did anyone bring up the subject. I received the care. After discharge, I had follow up doctor visits. I applied for state aid after the fact, and most of the bill was taken care of; I paid the rest off at about $20 per month.
When I broke my arm a couple years ago, I drove myself to the emergency room. At that hospital, they did ask for insurance; I showed them my Tricare card and never heard about the matter again.
I'm thinking that the hospital location may be more of a factor in this than anything else; hospitals in areas where people aren't as likely to get health insurance are more likely to be swamped with non-emergency/non-urgent cases than other hospitals. The lack of health insurance is a symptom; it's not the cause of higher mortality.