It's a racket alright but probably not in the way you meant it.
Most of the patients with gun shot wounds have no insurance.
You and I have insurance, so when *we* go to the hospital we are charged double and triple to cover the costs of the illegals, the poor, the people who give false information, and the rest of the non-insured. Look around you in the ER. Those people are paying nothing. You're paying for them!
You’re incorrect on that.
I do not have insurance. I pay out of pocket for my healthcare expenses.
I tell them I am self pay, I am charged the full amount, same as all others, and negotiating down is done after the bill calculated.
All doctors will negotiate, all technicians, everyone.
The hospital itself will also discount the bill.
Sacred Heart of Pensacola doesn’t negotiate, but rather discounts the total bill by 70% by those who have no insurance as a matter of policy.
That amount can then be paid over a 6 month period.
It was nice to see a 68,000 dollar bill dropped to 18k. However, 17k is also still expensive, but they saved my life, so I paid them in full.
The entity that offers the smallest reduction is the ambulance, but they did reduce that bill by 200$.
If a person has no insurance or means to pay, the bill can be paid in a number of ways through various programs and county services. In this manner tax payers are definitely paying those bills. The bill can also simply be forgiven via requesting charity if a person cannot pay.