Yes. And the costs are absolutely mind-boggling.
See this scar?
It required six stitches. I didn’t have health insurance when I got it, and the bill was over $6,000. I could literally have booked a same-day flight to London, spent the night in a hotel, got the stitches there, and come back, and my bill would’ve been lower.
In the US, hospitals are required by law to stabilize you if you come into the ER, regardless of your ability to pay. They are not, however, required to give you treatment beyond stabilization.
That means if you have no money, and you show up with a heart attack, they will stabilize you, maybe put you on clot-buster drugs…but if you have no insurance and you can’t pay, they will not put a stent in your heart or do bypass surgery. Once you’re stable they’ll kick you out.
Same for cancer. If you show up unable to breathe they’ll get you breathing again…but if you have no insurance and you can’t pay, they will not remove your tumors and they sure as hell won’t put you on chemo.
And when I say they’ll kick you out, I mean that literally.
It’s called “patient dumping.” As soon as you’re stabilized, hospital security escorts you off the hospital grounds and leaves you there.