"AES" wrote

I wonder if the final sentence above is true. If you've had any close
encounters with hospital bills lately, you have to be dismayed at what
seem to be the "way up there" costs or charges for every little aspect
of that part of the healthcare system. I have to suspect that somehow,
the charges on those who can pay are driven up by the hospital's legal
requirement to provide walk-in care without reimbursement for those who
can't, or won't -- and it shows up in _our_ payments, whether for direct
care or for insurance.

Around half your bill is someone else's bill.
--
Jim in NC