Reply #99: "most everyone will work with you"

[uptohere]

The nurse didn't agree to wait to be paid for that service, the meds whathaveyou. This is debt recovery for them. They hope that they will receive the money you agree to pay but the truth is that most of the time they won't. I did computer systems for the recovery people at a local hospital, this is for real.

People will say that they charge the uninsured more than the insured for a given treatment course. It's true, sort of. The insurers negotiate a price that they will pay which is less than what they would prefer. No negotiation ? No discount. The benefit to the health care provider is that they can expect timely payment. This allows them to pay those salaries, buy the drugs and supplies, pay the taxes etc. And to cover when folks cannot make timely payment or make payment at all.

Thats part of why people say this.

For those out there with chainsaws out there ready to dismember me, I am the first to admit that healthcare is a complicated subject even without the profit motive being thrown in. I'm just trying to cover this honest question posed with a real answer.