[shotgun]

I am not calling you a liberal but if the birkenstoks fit..

You have stated that we, as a country should all pay for each others mistakes.

Where I have stated that the responsiblity should be that of the individual.

[ican'tbelieveit]

See post above. I wish I could pay my own healthcare; I can't even afford to pay for health insurance. And I take every possible means to avoid getting sick or injured while I am in this situation in life. But would you deny me treatment at a hospital if I were to go for a walk this afternoon and injure myself and need treatment?

And if that situation were to happen, there is no way I could afford to pay the costs of what will be billed for my treatment. I don't want your tax $$$ to pay for it, but what really needs to be addressed is the reason it is so high.

And the helicopters that are used in these very same rescues are funded for other reasons to, where it isn't the individual's fault. Are you going to tell the rescue people not to rescue someone because, oh gee, they caused this themselves?

[mountaineer]

the responsiblity should be that of the individual.

With regard to the cost of emergency services, at least in my neck of the woods, the user of ambulance services receives a hefty bill from the fire department. I'm pretty sure that rescue services in the rugged west also bill users of their assistance. In other words, most people do end up taking some sort of financial responsibility for having needed such services, whether through their own negligence or otherwise.