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Comment by herodotus | Hacker News Reader

What I learned the hard way is that non-us citizens who need minor medical help should go to a drop-in clinic, not a hospital. In the few times I have done that, the fees were reasonable. The one time I went to a hospital to treat an infection in my thumb, I had to pay over $5,000. The same procedure in Canada would have cost me $50.

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That is true for citizens too. Going to the hospital in the US, especially the emergency room, is crazy expensive. Unless I'm actually going to die imminently, I'm not going to the hospital. And if I actually know I'm going to die then there is no point in bankrupting the family by going to the hospital.

My dad thought this way, too. He resisted going to the hospital when there was something wrong with his heart. If he had gone at the first sign of serious trouble, he’d probably still be alive. Instead, he went into cardiac arrest, my mother panicked and gave him CPR while someone called 911, and my dad went through multiple surgeries and weeks of life support before dying with a bill over a million dollars.

So if you really, really don’t want medical intervention, make certain your friends and family will respect your wishes.

I wish my dad had just gone to the hospital as soon as he knew there was a problem instead of trying to be a financial hero.

I'm willing to see a doctor, just not at the hospital. Lucky for me my wife is a Nurse Practitioner, I get lots of free advice (though I still go to the office when I need drugs/labs/etc).

jfc

The trick is to claim being homeless.

Doesn’t travel insurance cover any hospital you get taken to in an emergency?

I don't think it's mandatory for people on tourist visas to come to the U.S. so some portion of visitors probably don't have it.

Huh maybe not - I thought being able to show you could cover expenses while there (so insurance) was part of the questions on entry or when submitting for the waiver.

That's just to check you're not planning to work on your tourist visa and generally means having enough to cover accomodation, transport, food, and entertainment.

I think it is for many countries but especially on longer stay visas rather than simple tourist visas.

Many don’t fully cover the USA due to the exorbitant costs.

Not if your "travel" is multiple months spent working there.

I already linked it on anothe rthread, but Germans can get insurance for that for up to 5 years, including the US tripples the price so, even if it remains quite affordable. So there are solutions I guess.

Do they really have a way to track you down as a non-citizen for nonpayment? I know it's not the most ethical to skip out on a bill but charging incredible fees to foreigners who don't understand the American system doesn't seem that ethical either.

I would never do something like that, but of course I had to provide identification when I checked in to the hospital.

Fair enough! But I do hope you fought that bill really hard and got them to cut it down significantly. I was living in Europe a few years and signed up for travel insurance and thought it was really 'funny' that if you are going to America for more than a few days the rates basically double because the payouts the insurance has to provide are so extreme compared to the rest of the world.

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