Greendawn...my brother lives in LA and he had no medical insurance.
He got something called a 'Smokers vein " in his leg. That meant it just closed down and the blood supply was cut off to his toe. It got infected and they had to put him in the hospital.
They operated on the leg vein..(Moved one from another part of his body to his leg) and cut off his toe.
His bill was over $100,000.
All they have done is send him a bill once in a while.
I would imagine if they wanted to they could get a judgement against him and force him to pay..but that is hard to enforce also.
Used to here in Missouri we had a 'State Hospital". It was tough but at least it was something. I visited people there before and they had no screens on the windows and no air conditioning.
It has since been torn down.
State hospitals were usually for those without insurance. I don't think we have any now..hospitals want to make a buck too...
Snoozy...