When you call an ambulance, they arrive, give you immediate care, and transport you to the hospital. Hospitals are bound by law to treat emergencies regardless of payment and insurance or else they will lose their license to operate. I have friends that actually work in hospital administration and it is widely discussed in this country right now too. I also know from personal experience, because I got stung by a bee two years ago and almost died. They arrived, took me to the hospital, and I went directly to ER and was treated. I was there under observation (after emergency treatment) for 10 hours. I've been stung numerous times during my life but never had a severe allergic reaction until that time. My face, chest, and lungs swelled up. It wasn't until full treatment was over and they were ready to release me that the hospital and ambulance service started questioning my methods to pay. It just so happens that I was in between jobs (I took 2 weeks off between jobs talk about bad timing) and had NO insurance at all. NONE. The total cost out of my pocket was 25.00 because I was technically unemployed. The total bill was actually almost 4,000.00 I paid the 25.00 dollars when I got my first paycheck at my new job. I'm not in Texas and nowhere near Parkland...


>>>>You would be surprise how many people think the "socialize" health care is a bad idea. I would say the majority.
>>>
>>>And how do you think that may have come about? (I'm quite sure you're right, by the way).
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>>I think the people's value here are different. I think Americans have a different attitute about something being "free". There is no such thing as a "free lunch". We are more willing to earn what we get. We tend not to help those that aren't willing to help themselves first.
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>>Of course I'm speaking in general terms here.
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>>>They spread the myth that anyone in the US who 'shows up' at any hospital has to be seen/treated, but the omit that hospitals have systems in place to make sure that they don't get such people.
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>>I strongly disagree. I've said this before to you. Parkland Hospital, a county run hospital, accepts anyone. My mother was a nurse there for thirty five years. The emergency room is full of uninsured patients including many undocmented individuals. So, when people from other countries claim that in U.S. one can't get health care w/o insurance I know it's not true. Publically run hospitals rarely turn away patients. If they do, it's not becuase of [lack of] insurance. In fact I think I can say with some certainty that the uninsured people in US may even get better treatment then patients in countries that have "socialized" health care.
>
>Yes, you've mentioned before about Parkland.
>But what if someone's in dire straights and there are 7 hospitals between them and Parkland? My bet is they end up at Parkland. And possibly die on the way there, or have much deeper problems in the time it takes to get them there. And if they collapsed at home would they have the benefit of an ambulance to get to Parkland if they had no cash or credit card?
>
>And is it reasonable to you that a single hospital gets to handle all the uninsured? What it is is an "arrangement" so that non-public hospitals can get the profitable patients. A cozy little deal that lets everyone say that anyone can get care.
>
>Did you have any thoughts, by the way, on the situation I described about myself?... Was I better off in Canada or would I have been better off in the US?