ST Alpha - "They cannot be refused treatment, and they cannot be held hostage until they pay...so basically, he's right." (Reading a Post)

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In response to "Mitt Romney says (unless I'm misunderstanding him, and correct me if I am) that when the uninsured use the emergency room, they don't have to pay. Is " by mara

They cannot be refused treatment, and they cannot be held hostage until they pay...so basically, he's right.

Posted by Jim (aka Jim) Mar 4 '10, 12:59

I mean, they'll get billed. They'll get sent to collections. They may get sued...but the facts of the matter are, if they have no job, don't own a house and have nothing in their bank account...there's nothing a hospital can do.

Responses:

There really aren't that many uninsured out there who have absolutely *no* assets. Sure, there are the homeless, but that's a small percentage. -- nm - mara Mar 4, 13:03 13
- It often leads to filing for personal bankruptcy. -- nm - pmb Mar 4, 13:37
- Actually, there are a lot (probably millions) of people like that. - decline Mar 4, 13:07
- They don't have to have *no* assets, just assets that the hospital can't touch. For instance...we can't take their car. If they don't own a house or - Jim Mar 4, 13:07 3
  - Ah, that's what I was missing. Thanks to you and decline. -- nm - mara Mar 4, 13:10
  - [deleted] 1
    - I'm in IT now...but I spent close to 10 years trying to collect medical bills... - Jim Mar 4, 13:10
- Exactly, therein lies the problem: The hospital acquires the right to seize assets in exchange for healthcare. - Beryllium Mar 4, 13:05 3
  - meh. when you broke, ignoring bill collectors is another day at the office. -- nm - TFox Mar 4, 13:06 2
    - I would hate to have to live like that :( -- nm - Beryllium Mar 4, 13:11 1
      - i'm sure they don't love it. what i'm saying is, it's not just the medical bills. lots of these people are just broke, not broke-thanks-to-healthcar -- nm - TFox Mar 4, 13:14
- it gets handled like every other bill collection past due debt in the world. -- nm - TFox Mar 4, 13:04 2
  - I could say, as accurately, "The *insured* don't have to pay medical bills" -- they just get billed and taken to court if they don't pay. -- nm - mara Mar 4, 13:06 1
    - This is totally true. Historically, they pay far more often, and if they don't, it's a much smaller bill so whatever. But yes, you're right. -- nm - TFox Mar 4, 13:07
[deleted]
this is correct. -- nm - TFox Mar 4, 13:00
[deleted] 1
- I'll say this though...there's nothing sweeter than serving the summons to a dude through his Jaguar window, though. - Jim Mar 4, 13:01

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They cannot be refused treatment, and they cannot be held hostage until they pay...so basically, he's right.

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