Firefighters let house burn down over $75

[kitler53]

voty2000 said:

mjk45 said:

BTW doesn't a similar thing happen in the USA in regards to sick people being refused ambulance care if they don't have insurance, or is that an urban myth.

That's a myth, kind of.  In case of an emergency, a hospital cannot refuse care:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMTALA

Now, for non emergency situations, it's a state by state thing but most states are similar to this:

http://www.lsnjlaw.org/english/healthcare/hospitals/hospitalcare/

like voty said, it's a myth.  hospitals cannont refuse emergency care.  it's part of why i think all of the opposition to health care reform is stupid.  like it our not, the USA has universal health care, we just give shitty service. 

...but here's how it breaks down. someone without insurance needs medical services, they get it, they can't afford to pay the bills therefore they go into bankrupcy, the hospital takes a financial hit on the service, which they pass on as inflated prices for the services to those that can pay, which means higher insurance premimums, which i pay for.

knowing that preventitive health care is cheaper than emergency health care,...i just wish we'd suck it up, be smart, and offer a true universal health care so i can save a few bucks and feel better about america.