".. If I was in the country illegally, or had no assets or desire for future credit, I could go to an emergency room and receive plenty of service.."
That is simply not true. When was the last time you've been in the emergency room?
Unless you are close to death, private hospitals won't even treat you. They ship you off to the closest public hospital. Where, if you don't have the money you are the last seen. And in South Florida that can take days, depending on how busy the hospital is. And you get the minimal care to keep you alive. Period. Not to mention, the local governments pay for it. Trust me, public hospitals don't give services out of the goodness of their hearts. It's a terrible situation I know. But the solutions (universal health care) haven't work out so well.
True, it depends on the state. Either way, people with much lower incomes (or paper trails) than people like me have better care, and people with higher incomes have much better care. As far as receiving health care in the US, being self employed at about 25-60k a year seems to be a particularly bad position.
That is simply not true. When was the last time you've been in the emergency room?
Unless you are close to death, private hospitals won't even treat you. They ship you off to the closest public hospital. Where, if you don't have the money you are the last seen. And in South Florida that can take days, depending on how busy the hospital is. And you get the minimal care to keep you alive. Period. Not to mention, the local governments pay for it. Trust me, public hospitals don't give services out of the goodness of their hearts. It's a terrible situation I know. But the solutions (universal health care) haven't work out so well.