The hospital billed every single person they treated that night. They aren't a charity. They also bill the customers the firefighters kindly transport to their store free of charge for them.
And the firefighters either got paid by the local government, or they are a charity and work as volunteers.
But my point is that if hospitals help firefighters treat patients without charging the firefighters, then why should the firefighters charge the hospital to help the hospital treat patients? That's not reciprocal.
Hospitals don't "help treat patients" without charging the patient for it. The guys charging $100 for a box of tissues don't get to become collectivists all of the sudden.
Hospitals help not only the patients, but also the firefighters who are responsible for those patients before handing them off to the hospitals. And they provide that service to the firefighters without charging the firefighters.
> The guys charging $100 for a box of tissues don't get to become collectivists all of the sudden.
When you say "don't get to be", do you mean shouldn't get to be? Are you sure the firefighters did actually charge the hospital for this?
Hospitals do consult on EMS calls at times, often without billing for it.
Not all hospitals bill for every little thing, that really depends on the hospital and how they are funded. For example there are a number of children's hospitals that are funded by grants, donations and endowments. And some hospitals like the VA hospital system are funded by the government to serve specific segments of the population.
> Hospitals do consult on EMS calls at times, often without billing for it.
They don't bill on a per-call basis, but you can be sure that if a hospital is providing medical control services to an EMS agency there is a contract in place and they are being compensated for it (either a flat annual fee, or by some other means)
You do if you ask them to fill up a swimming pool or a similar non firefighting activity. Was a discount provided to the patients because the hospital was able to cheap out on labor? I'll bet not, why should the executive team keep that surplus that was created due to their mismanagement?
If the local fire brigade is funded through municipal taxes, for example, then lots of people are getting billed anyway even when the fire brigade never comes to their houses.