I took my wife to the hospital one night a couple of years ago because she was feeling very crappy very quickly; we waited so long (in a sea of apparent illegals) that she felt better after a few hours and we left. Because we had registered when we went in, they sent us a bill; she hadn’t been seen by a doctor, so the bill has never been paid.
I’m going to venture a guess that none of the hospital’s other bills for that night were ever paid, either.
Not necessarily. The federal government is subsidizing hospitals to assist in the overwhelming cost of treating both ILLEGALs and others who can't or don't pay. In your case I wouldn't have paid either.
I had a similar event. I have used power tools all my life. I've used most every type of power saw imaginable. So how ironic is it that I nearly cut the index finger off of my right hand with a razor knife? The knife was defective allowing the blade to penetrate through the two halves of the handle cutting into my finger and stripping skin and tissue off similar to how you would strip the insulation from a copper wire. I went to the closest ER where they told me they did not accept my insurance. They suggested I go to the other now closed ER a few miles away. But before they let me go they wanted a doctor to see me. I told them I was leaving so they brought the dr in right away. He looked at my injury and determined it was non-life threatening and said I could go. I realized they were just covering their butt legally by having him look me over when they asked me to sign a paper saying I was leaving of my own will. I walked out. About 60 days later I received a bill which I didn't pay. They refused treatment, I refused payment. I never heard from them again.