[photojosh]

They go broke. The exact number is disputed [0], but health costs are a major cause of bankruptcy in the USA (as opposed to most other developed countries where this uncertainty about costs doesn't exist).

I discovered an interesting fact the other day about the US's massive % of GDP spent on health; they spend about the same % of public monies on health that other developed countries do, the extra % is private spending! [1]

Anecdata: I am in Australia and have private health insurance (notably: otherwise I'd be paying an extra tax levy and be worse of in $ terms), but all that has meant is that I can go to a private hospital instead of a public one for elective surgery. For ~$2k a year. A few years back I broke both my collarbone and my ankle on separate occasions. The ankle repair was entirely free. The collarbone was setting too slowly (opportunity cost: I needed to get back to work ASAP... normally they just put your arm in a sling and let it stitch naturally), so I opted to have a surgical repair, which was about $2k all up for the out-of-pockets.

[0]: https://www.thebalance.com/medical-bankruptcy-statistics-415... [1]: https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/health-...

[stevenicr]

go broke as you mention, and often go without care.

Sometimes being dumped from a hospital in the middle of the night drugged at some random location.

Often times a small problem gets put off and becomes a much larger problem.

It becomes a burden on family and friends, sometimes leads to amputations and other surgeries such that otherwise could of been avoided with better care.

This a huge problem for a lot of people, especially if you add in the dental care that is needed and not obtained around the country.

ymmv