Quote Originally Posted by betts View Post
If you don't give people healthcare, they simply show up in the Emergency Room for all their health care, including sore throats, sunburns and diaper rashes. You cannot be turned away from an Emergency Room if you show up, nor can that hospital ship you off to a "charity" hospital, so it makes it simple to start using the ER for all health care if you have no insurance. Or, if you're too proud, you suffer at home, no matter how bad your problem. Using the ER for basic health care slows ir down for everyone, and ultimately, we pay for the healthcare of the uninsured regardless. The hospitals simply raise what they charge to the rest of us to make up the difference. The only way to avoid paying for health care for those who cannot afford it is to make it legal to turn sick people without insurance away. If you've got the moral stomach for that.....and I'm one of those "corrupt(isn't that what someone in a post above called me and my colleagues?)" doctors....you've got a stronger stomach than I do.

Thanks Betts! Not sure why so many folks refuse to understand this very simple explanation. What makes it even worse is when folks who have lost their coverage try to do the right thing, and end up filing bankruptcy due to medical bills they'll never be able to pay.