Emergency room patients can face steep bills even when treatment is declined
How can people read and hear about stories like this, and even possibly think it&#x27;s OK or even normal?<p>How do lawmakers in the USA convince people that this is acceptable? I have never directly paid a single cent for healthcare, and neither has anyone I know. When I had to get 6 stitches in my forehead at 2 AM on a Sunday morning, it cost me nothing. When my friend needed to get the tip of his finger reattached, it cost us $5 for parking. When my brother spend almost a week in hospital after coming off his motorbike, requiring surgery on both his knees, it cost him a grand total of $0 out of pocket.<p>Are people just so blind to how extortionate healthcare is in the USA?<p>The argument that I pay for my healthcare in my taxes doesn&#x27;t hold water either. I pay less tax in Australia than I would in California, and I get free hospital care as part of that. I don&#x27;t have health insurance and see no reason why I would purchase it either.