Originally Posted By: KeithS
You don’t have a very accurate understanding about what Federal Law requires for hospitals and emergency rooms. Hospitals are NOT required to provide FULL MEDICAL CARE to people without insurance. Hospitals and ERs are required to provide treatment for uninsured patients who present with life threatening conditions. If you show up with something not life threatening, you can be turned away. If you are treated, it isn’t free. The hospital can attempt to collect what they are owed.


I don't want to derail this thread but SoCal is ground zero for illegals from Mexico and Central America. Sorry but I use the term illegal, not immigrant. There are an estimated several million just in the LA/Orange County areas. The ER is their primary doctor and they absolutely DO NOT get turned away. Gazillions of local news reports about that over the years. I and a couple friends needed to to to an ER on a few occasions in the last 10 years and the waiting rooms have been packed, sometimes with folding chairs because the regular chairs and benches are full and 99% of the people are hispanics. They have no problem getting care and nobody cares if the ER produces a bill for payment either. There is a ton of cross border traffic and just my opinion, COVID 19 would go through that group very quickly if it was easy to get and it hasn't happened or we certainly would have heard about it.

Lambada what a great history of the SARS thing, thanks for that. No doubt COVID 19 is different so we can't make a direct comparison. My only point is the predictions vs the final reality. That may or may not play out the same in the current environment but I'm hopeful it winds up similar and I really do believe the rise of social media has had a huge bearing on all of this.

Bob

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