In America,who pays Hospital bills in a pandemic

In the US, no hospital can legally turn away a patient presenting a critical care need for an inability to pay or no insurance. Thus, who pays? The taxpayer.

The American system is adequate in emergency cases. But healthcare ineeds to be far wider than that.

Only if you have it free "taxpayer paid" at the point of need can you intercept things in the early stages and stop them there. Being in the UK, I can guarantee that works out far cheaper than you might think.

Once something has developed to the emergency stage, it is often too late to do anything about it. I know that applies to things like cancer, but I don't have enough specific knowledge about the American system to judge if the system can cope with a pandemic like this.

Jacksdad? Albert? Johnray? Anyone?

Well, there's the thought, and this is a bit insane, is if you're going to be infected, better early, as you can get a ventilator. Or, better not at all. Ride out the storm on a ranch in Montana until a vaccine comes.

Technophobe, our health care system is not perfect but it works. People raise hell about the high bills, but in reality, they do not pay these bills. The hospitals do not get paid, the doctors do not get paid by many, many patients. But you do get paid by enough insurance companies and various government programs to still keep going. People bitch and complain about their bills but they never pay their bills. Some do. But everyone gets treated. In a pandemic, our system will be just like the system in Australia and England, and that is that the system will be over loaded and the first ones to the hospital will get beds and treatment, the rest will either die in waiting room or die at home. There will be no difference..           A lot of the public university hospitals get millions is the form of government grants. Most of the private doctors like I was, go out of business and go to work for a hospital or clinic system . There are practically no private solo medical practices in this county now. Everyone went broke. The last 7 years that I worked, I worked for a large clinic system at an hourly rate. So when you hear people in the US complaining about their high medical bills, ask them how much of that bill that they paid. The vast majority of them did not pay one penny. The highway robbery in this country at this time is done by the Pharmicies and the Pharmaceutical companies. Once you get out of the hospital, you have to go to a Pharmacy to get prescription medication. You either pay them or you die. A few months ago I went to a doctor for an ear infection. My insurance paid the doctor bill but when I went to the Pharmacy to get my medication. They charged me 175 dollars for the medication. Because I am a retired doctor, I know that the whole sale cost of this medication was no more than 10 or 12 dollars at the most. That is one hell of a profit margin.

The pharmaceutical companies are horrible. Remember just a few years ago when the Epi pens were costing about $500?

No. just the one. Flumom had problems logging in and had to reregister. So now she's a newbie.

JohnRay, I know it works, but it could be so much cheaper.

We have a much maligned, even hated, medical body called NICE (National Institute for Clinical Excellence) and they decide what our NHS pays for. As a consequence the drugs companies can't charge us those prices, so they had to drop most costs. All our perscriptions are about £5.00 ALL OF THEM! No one ever pays more, many pay less and the poorest, oldest, youngest and sickest pay nothing.

It is not a perfect system either. The exceptionally expensive cancer drugs that do not cure people but buy a few more months of life are refused by NICE. By the same yardstick, loads of people are diagnosed earlier as all GP visits, hospital referrals and diagnostic tests, even the vaccines like the HPV vaccine are provided free.

At the sharp end, when the patient is dying and comfort and time are the requirements, your system probably works better. But at the shallow end, when there is a chance to avoid the sharp end, ours does. That is why we have a longer life expectancy.

When I was a worker, I was quite a high earner. Yet I paid about £2K a year towards the NHS and, now retired, I pay nothing. My perscriptions are free, as is everything else. Most Americans find that hard to believe, but it is true.