Originally posted by mblahnikluver
Originally posted by SantaClaus
Hospitals are REQUIRED to treat you whether you are insured or not.
Really says who? Tell that to Cape Canaveral Hospital who TURNED me away because I had no insurance. I was having a huge allergic reaction to a dog where my face was swollen and I was having trouble breathing. Yeah they really helped me. As soon as they took my blood pressure and temperature they asked for my insurance and I told them I didnt have any and they said they couldnt see me UNLESS I paid a fee of 300 dollars UP FRONT.
If true, you could be rich on the settlement you would get for a lawsuit. Of course, you are obviously still alive so perhaps it wasn't considered life-threatening and didn't warrant an emergency room visit.
Federal law gives you the right to emergency care, regardless of your ability to pay. Here are the details on how you should be handled at the hospital.
Fortunately, a federal law passed in 1986 to prohibit a practice commonly known as "patient dumping" gives you the right to emergency care regardless of your ability to pay. The federal law applies to hospitals that participate in Medicare -- and that includes most hospitals in the United States.
In a nutshell, the federal patient-dumping law entitles you to three things: screening, emergency care and appropriate transfers. A hospital must provide "stabilizing care" for a patient with an emergency medical condition. The hospital must screen for the emergency and provide the care without inquiring about your ability to pay.
Link: articles.moneycentral.msn.com...
It would be helpful if people actually knew the laws of this country before trying to discuss how terrible they are.
