[Faark]

Its send to collections. So you're only fine if you are poor enough to not have anything they can take from you. And at that point you are eligible for gov support to your healthcare bill anyway.

Here in germany you can actually kind of get away with not paying for a while when not consuming. But coverage has to be continuous, so if you need insurance since you want to go to the doctor a few years down the line, you have to pay up for the entire period.

[seanmcdirmid]

Hospitals already charge higher rates to those without insurance because of those payers high default rate. Collections is expensive, and they might not be able to collect anything at the end, so they price that risk into the prices.

[jki275]

Cite? Generally people without insurance are able to negotiate significantly lower bills - or the bills simply aren’t paid at all.

[seanmcdirmid]

They can negotiate afterwards if they say they can’t pay, but that also is already built into the higher non-insured price list...