[sadfsdafklj]

> In many (most?) states, they are actually legally required to offer services to you without a subscription

For emergency services from hospitals that provide emergency services, that's true. But for virtually anything else I don't think it is.

[chimeracoder]

> For emergency services from hospitals that provide emergency services, that's true. But for virtually anything else I don't think it is.

You're thinking of a separate law, which requires emergency rooms to provide emergency medical services to all patients if they accept Medicare or are attached to a hospital which accepts Medicare. (This is one of the reasons that there's been a proliferation of standalone for-profit emergency rooms in the last several years - it's a way to bypass this requirement and serve only the most profitable patients).

That's separate from what we're talking about here.

[sadfsdafklj]

If you're talking about EMTALA, it has nothing to do with Medicare. What law do you think prohibits people from charging subscription fees? Because AFAIK every state in the union has concierge medicine.

[chimeracoder]

> If you're talking about EMTALA, it has nothing to do with Medicare.

Literally the first paragraph of the Wikipedia page about EMTALA:

> It requires hospital emergency departments that accept payments from Medicare to provide an appropriate medical screening examination (MSE) to anyone seeking treatment for a medical condition, regardless of citizenship, legal status, or ability to pay.

[schmookeeg]

I've been wondering about that proliferation. I suspected something like this. It seems particularly out of control in Texas in the Dallas suburbs.

Thanks for this connection. :)