It's simple. This pandemic is proving that we have the greatest health care system in the history of the world. Every citizen and resident who can find their way to an emergency room has an equal shot. No ones credit is checked at the door. What more do you want?
Not to be presented with a bill for services provided. And the ability to sue if the desired results are not achieved.
My daughter was rear-ended years ago on a Friday afternoon and our primary care physician recommended that I take her to the ER for x-rays and an exam. We went to nearby Arlington Memorial Hospital where there were about a dozen or so people waiting, all Hispanics, one bleeding badly (put a chisel into his forearm as I recall). I filled out the forms and provided my insurance card to the admissions people and about two hours later, in the order of arrival (no one came in after us), she was finally seen.
In talking with the young attending doctor, I learned that the likelihood of collecting money for services rendered to the preceding patients approached nil, and that unless it was a life or death emergency, everyone was seen in the order they checked in. With a possible neck and neural injury, I thought that she perhaps had priority over those with flu and cold symptoms, but that was not the case. And ability to pay provided zero consideration. Does it get more egalitarian than this?
A side note to this episode is that when I got the bill for my part of the payment, I noticed that they had charged us for a pregnancy test. I asked my daughter if she wanted to tell me something, but when she figured out what I was getting at, she said that she didn't ask for it.
In checking with billing, I learned that pregnancy tests are routinely done on all women of child bearing age prior to taking X-rays. I asked why we weren't given the option to opt out and even sign a waiver for liability, and was told that the test was required by policy and regulation. The billing person did mention that she didn't recall anyone ever bringing up the issue before, probably an indication that when someone else is paying for the lions share of the bill, not much due diligence is done.