[readthenotes1]

Given the highly escalating price of medical care, it's astounding that a provider that isn't required by federal law to provide no-cost indigent care can go bankrupt.

[1] makes it sound like they were assuming a never-ending stream of venture funding and didn't make a sustainable business. It'd be interesting to see where the money went.

[1] https://www.oregonlive.com/business/2022/09/portland-pediatr...

[dariusmonsef]

Was very hard to navigate COVID where the business was whiplashed in both directions for a couple years. Money went to opening clinics and staff… in hindsight there were smarter ways to grow the business.

[mkmk]

Patient acquisition costs, perhaps?

[gerdesj]

"federal law to provide no-cost indigent care"

Could you explain "indigent" here, please. It looks like a typo.

[btilly]

Any homeless person can walk into an ER and get care. What will happen to the bills?

Effectively it is no cost care for those who are sufficiently poor.

[gerdesj]

Cool - that sounds a bit like our NHS.

You also said "What will happen to the bills?" - what does that mean?

Cheers Jon

[nradov]

Some of the bills are just written off as bad debt. Essentially thrown away. But in many cases the hospital back office will work to get indigent patients enrolled in Medicaid and then send the bills to the state government.

[atomicnumber3]

Socialized medicine with extra steps and 500 middlemen all skimming off the top

[dragonwriter]

It's someone looking at the EMTALA requirement for emergency departments to provide stabilization without regard to ability to pay without also realizing that the US has public health insurance for the medically indigent.

[pge]

There are still a lot of low-income patients that are not covered by medicaid

[BugsJustFindMe]

They mean providing care to poor people.