And that principal, that we all are responsible for everyone's healthcare, has led to the situation we are in now. I'm not arguing against it, but I wish someone could figure out how to avoid the ultimate consequence which we are all too close to arriving at, i.e.: if the "government" is responsible for us then it has the right to tell us how to live our lives down to the finest details.
For the question at hand at least, I'd like to see more than just forcing hospital ERs to hold and deal with holding the bag. They could be and should be empowered as auto loan companies are to go after ER abusers finances, paychecks, garnishing abilities, "repo" men/woman, access to estates, etc....
I'm clearly not saying ERs should turn people away, but there must be recourse to them to get some remunerations for their services beyond just sticking it to everybody EXCEPT the abuser.