Isn't this why the costs are so outrageous? The guaranteed insurance coverage means hospitals know they can charge whatever they want. This is why I'm not psyched about single payer healthcare solutions: It's not solving the problem, and may just mean huge government waste.

It'd be far more effective to aggressively regulate hospital billing, wouldn't it?

> It's not solving the problem, and may just mean huge government waste.

You should look into the efficiency of medicare and medicaid if you're really worried about this. It might put some of your fears to rest.

Depends on whether hospitals execute efficiently on the capital they raise from bad billing practices. If they are, regulating billing either won't change the final costs, or degrade service.

ERs are mandated to provide emergency care to anyone regardless of insurance status. They get sweet tax deductions to do so and they get reimbursed by medicare as well. Also they have to take every insurance. There's a limit though, usually they will do enough to stabilize you out of immediate danger. So if you go to the ER with cancer and no insurance they may help you stabilize but they won't necessarily treat your cancer.