Do you genuinely believe that pro bono care comes at no cost? That the doctors and nurses opt not to get paid for the time that they deal with people who don't have insurance? That the electricity company doesn't charge to keep the lights on when there are uninsured people being cared for? That the landlord says "eh, 20% of your patients didn't have insurance, how about a reduction in your rent this month"?
Simple payment plans don't really work out when an emergency visit to the hospital can easily cost more than $100,000.
of course I don't believe that. The question is how best to handle that cost? Through voluntary action or through an inefficient behemoth of a bureaucracy. I'm going to get overtly political here, but I have to say: I cannot honestly believe that a country that fails to successfully take care of osama bin laden without slaughtering millions of innocents along the way, has any hope of managing something as delicate as individual healthcare needs for 300 million.
Simple payment plans don't really work out when an emergency visit to the hospital can easily cost more than $100,000.