Hi Mark,

>> I'm not against people getting health insurance.  People could always
>> get health insurance here.  It is just that people with no income on
>> the books never got it and would rather use the ER as the primary
>> care.

> couple of things here...

> 1. how can people with no income get any health insurance?

Well, in NYS, if you have no job, no income, etc. etc. you can get Medicaid.
That's what it's for.. I know of at least one person who has it, and it's the
only way he can survive with his medical situation.

> 2. people without income have no way to pay for doctors visits.

That person above uses Medicaid here.  Pays the bill...

>3. people without income have no way to pay those emergency health care clinic
> if they try to go there.

Same as above again.

> 4. by law, the hospital ER cannot turn people away.

Yep, true.

> 5. for many folks, it is a last resort going to the ER because they still get
> billed for the visit.

He doesn't get a bill.. it's all taken care of by Medicaid here.

> 6. the hospitals use those unpaid bills as a tax write off.

True..

> 7. i've personally seen a $1000 ambulance charge reduced to $100 due to no
> income. that reduction didn't help the person, though, because they still
> couldn't pay it.

> sorry that's more than a couple but not as many as i originally started to
> write...

One's state has so much to do with this crap though, it makes me sick.  They
should ALL be doing this, not just NYS IMO.

Take care,
Janis

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