iflyboats Posted February 3, 2011 Report Share Posted February 3, 2011 (edited) It seems to me that it must be immoral to do so since the government does not reimburse hospitals who are forced to treat the uninsured. So it's not like social security or a student loan where you're entitled to receive the benefits you paid for. Therefore, if you show up at the hospital uninsured and take advantage of the EMTALA, you're committing an act of extortion against the hospital. Do you agree with my reasoning, or am I failing to consider something? Edited February 3, 2011 by iflyboats Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanaka Posted February 3, 2011 Report Share Posted February 3, 2011 Sure. Doesn't mean you should just stay home and die, though, if you need emergency care. You should just make sure to pay them back for whatever care you receive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greebo Posted February 3, 2011 Report Share Posted February 3, 2011 It seems to me that it must be immoral to do so since the government does not reimburse hospitals who are forced to treat the uninsured. So it's not like social security or a student loan where you're entitled to receive the benefits you paid for. Therefore, if you show up at the hospital uninsured and take advantage of the EMTALA, you're committing an act of extortion against the hospital. Do you agree with my reasoning, or am I failing to consider something? What if you have no money now but show up at the hospital with every honest intention of paying them when you can? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
softwareNerd Posted February 3, 2011 Report Share Posted February 3, 2011 (edited) It seems to me that it must be immoral to do so since the government does not reimburse hospitals who are forced to treat the uninsured. So it's not like social security or a student loan where you're entitled to receive the benefits you paid for. Therefore, if you show up at the hospital uninsured and take advantage of the EMTALA, you're committing an act of extortion against the hospital. Do you agree with my reasoning, or am I failing to consider something?This is a variation of the question about using government scholarships. American voters have created a system where some people have been priced out of healthcare. There comes a point where it would be sacrificial for such people not to use the system as it is, even if they protest against it. Many people who use this law, knowing that they will not be able to pay the hospital, or to pay them fully, are immoral for doing so, but, many are victims of the law, just as are the hospitals. In other words, sometimes the law sets up situations where the only practical way is to choose some point where everyone is sacrificed to some extent. An analogy would be if voters introduced a slew of laws that raised food prices to three times what they are, but also issued a law that forced grocery stores to give some food to anyone showing up and saying they were hungry. I would not blame some poor people for seeing themselves as victims of such a law, taking the food for free, and then not paying. Edited February 3, 2011 by softwareNerd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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