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The people with insurance that fork over $10 for an aspirin and $50 for a bandage. Those exorbitant overcharges to their insurance is how the hospital has the money to cover uninsured patients. In addition, some states have funds they distribute to the hospitals for uninsured patients.
This being said much often depends upon what type of hospital we're speaking about.
Some charity/indigent/hospitals of last resort, often will simply write off a good portion of uncompensated care. Since many consider it their "mission" to provide healthcare to any and all regardless of ability to pay, such places often do not go full frontal into collections or trying other means to recoup costs.
OTOH some other hospitals will send unpaid bills to debt collector and or sell off the "bad debt" outright in order to get paid. Indeed some places are rather aggressive which lead to all sorts of wailing and moaning to lawmakers locally and in Congress about people being *forced* into bankruptcy or whatever because of being hounded for unpaid healthcare bills.
The people with insurance that fork over $10 for an aspirin and $50 for a bandage. Those exorbitant overcharges to their insurance is how the hospital has the money to cover uninsured patients. In addition, some states have funds they distribute to the hospitals for uninsured patients.
That is largely no longer true.
Insurance companies today by and large have *huge* amounts of leverage over hospitals in relation to payments. Most will have negotiated by contract fiscal arrangements that include prices for everything from medical procedures to "bed and board" (hospital bed and nursing services daily rates).
Most of what is provided is billed, adjusted, sent to collections and if not paid then written off. This is true for many, many chronic cases - people who often spend months on end in the hospital only to be discharged then readmitted a month later - they are the exception but their bills largely go unpaid after their limited (or nonexistant) insurance is exhausted.
I see a lot of credit reports and it is astonishing how many people have medical collections on their report.
From a couple of hundred dollars to very large amounts but many have smaller amounts while many with the income they have easily can afford to pay the fee hundred dollars off.
Hospitals should not allow people who are not in immediate danger to get treated if they have outstanding bills.
People who actually work and pay taxes are the ones who get stuck with the bill.
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