Comment Re:Ebola vs HIV (Score 1) 381
As well, millions (literally I'm afraid) of Americans are terrified by hospitals because just going there will almost certainly result in involuntary bankruptcy. The CDC and political leaders are saying nothing about who pays if you follow public health guidelines and go for treatment or observation. They seem unaware of how people make these decisions, and even well-versed journalists have no idea how hospitals respond when patients cannot pay. For example, in http://washpost.bloomberg.com/... Bloomberg quotes a JHU professor saying "If they recognize that [Thomas Eric Duncan] has no money they will clearly just write it off as charity care." That is simply not true. Non-profit hospitals are by far the #1 parties putting people into involuntary bankruptcy.
The care for Thomas Eric Duncan, "patient zero" in Texas, in estimated in the same article as over $500,000 even before he died. Presumably, due to the publicity, that bill was never sent. But who knows.