Do doctors ever secretly treat uninsured patients for free? I saw an episode of 'scrubs' where they do that an

Question

and I know it's a fictional TV show, and I know it's illegal and they would lose their license etc etc... but have you ever heard of someone doing that?

Answer 1

doctors treat poor/uninsured patients for free or reduced fees all the time (its called charity); most limit it to about 10%--or they would go broke. Some docs and nurses and PAs take a few months off and participate in Doctors without borders etc and work in medical missions etc in war zones, africa, asia--all over.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

Diane above is correct, but I don't know how you can limit charity cases to just 10%. I had many more patients than that who were uninsured and could not pay. As a cancer & leukemia specialist, I could not turn people away for this reason. My practice did charge the same for everyone, but I would then write off the bills, often thousands of dollars, when the office manager informed me they had no coverage and said they could not pay. We took their word for it. Many people were already having trouble paying for the medical care they received while their cancer or leukemia was being diagnosed and before systemic treatment.
It is required that charges be the same for all patients, but collection is a completely different matter. If you take care of people with life threatening illnesses and there are few doctors in the area providing your particular specialty care, there are not many options. I did not go broke, but much more than 10% of my time was spent trying to help people who would not be able to pay. The painful part for cancer docs who provide chemotherapy is that you have to pay for the medicines you give in the office, and too often you cannot even collect your cost for the drugs. Donating time was the part I didn't mind, but paying for their meds was a bit frustrating.
You don't lose your license for not collecting your fees.
(At least - not that I know of)

Added note for Devon - Doctors can certainly lose their licenses for getting sex or obtaining drugs from patients.
I hope those persons were reported.

Answer 4

There's no secret about it, and it certainly isn't illegal. The problem is that it isn't free. Taking care of a patient costs the doctor money, and if he does too much pro bono work, he'll go broke himself. And when a hospital is involved, he has no authority to spend the hospital's money.
By the way, as an emergency physician, I'm obligated to give a screening exam to all comers, and to treat those with emergencies, regardless of ability to pay. The hospital bills them, but at least one in ten can't pay. The cost of the documents, x-rays, lab tests, etc. gets passed on to others in the form of higher charges. Quite a few hospitals have gone broke and closed their doors when the payer mix was wrong.

Answer 5

Don't know where you get your information saying that it's illegal NOT to collect money for a service. Doesn't make a lot of sense and if you have a source, I'd love to see it.

Yes, often times, doctors will have to write off bills. There are times when a doctor will not bill a patient due to the circumstances surrounding the patient's insurance and ability to pay status.

Answer 6

Sometimes we treat patients for free on purpose, and sometimes we treat them for free because they refuse to pay for the services that were rendered.

It's not illegal. What is illegal (ish) is to not bill for the patient's share of an insurance bill. We sign contracts with insurers stating that we will try to collect what the insurance company says the patient owes us (deductibles and co-payments). That doesn't mean we actually get paid, but we do have to try.

You won't lose a license for not billing a patient. It takes more than that.

Answer 7

I never saw that but I know that many will give samples of the drugs that they got for free to patients who can not afford them.

Answer 8

I know of two. It was - Yes.....With Conditions!!!

One for sex, the other for drugs.