If you suspect you have a serious illness such as cancer, but do not have any real emergency symptoms, can a hospital refuse to treat you if you don't have health insurance? Or would they just bill you?
2007-10-17 00:29:06 · 5 answers · asked by the grand super C 4 in Health ➔ General Health Care ➔ Other - General Health Care
It depends on where you're located. If you're in the far east, a hospital won't even book you for a bed unless you've paid in advance; you won't get any medications unless you've already paid for them.
In the US, most hospitals are required to render emergency care, to medically stabilize a patient (ie make sure they're breathing and have a circulation, ie stable vital signs). Cancer treatment is not emergency care. So, your question of can a hospital refuse to treat you? The answer is yes they can. Many who used to bill patients and treat first, have discovered that they cannot then recoup their money thereafter. Hence, most hospitals won't start treatment unless they get some sort of guarantee that someone is going to pay.
Ralph
2007-10-17 00:41:10 · answer #1 · answered by ralphrepo_01 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
A patient does not decide to be admitted - that is a doctor's decision based on medical necessity, not billing considerations with some latitude as no situation is all one thing or another. I am quite sure that there are many hospitalizations because uninsured patients did not get the outpatient care they needed when first becoming ill. This reform should eventually reduce that but it will never eliminate it until there are no barriers to care. That will never happen. Even in places like Canada and the UK with full socialized medicine there is the barrier of wait time for non emergency treatment. Adequate insurance is a lower barrier than no insurance. But any cost is a barrier and you will never eliminate cost.
2016-05-23 03:21:12 · answer #2 · answered by cammie 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A hospital can not refuse to treat a person just because they have no health insurance. They will bill you.
2007-10-17 00:33:32 · answer #3 · answered by greylady 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes, they can. A state hospital usually will take you but they need to be assured of being paid and just because they bill you does not mean they will get paid.
2007-10-17 00:51:05 · answer #4 · answered by old_woman_84 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
my cousin went to the hospital te other day for a lump in his throat which was an allergic reaction which kept getting worse....not only did they make him wait for three hours and they werent even busy...they told him that there was nothing they could do withou tinsurance and if he wants to pay 150 dollars they can maybe see him in the back....so yea they can tell you no and refuse you
2007-10-17 00:33:49 · answer #5 · answered by s_riley1987 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋