Pittsboro, NC – Of course, one of the things the UNC hospital system has to build into its cost structure is the need to care for the indigent and those without health insurance who don’t have the resources to pay. That is also why taxpayers have to cover those costs as part of our compact as a society. Private hospitals, of course, don’t have that obligation and can choose to whom they provide services.
There was lots of heat, but little light, on this subject when the ACA was developed. If all Americans had health insurance the cost structure for all hospitals would change and would be leveled out.
We as a society might pay more than we do now, or we might pay less. But all Americans would have access to adequate healthcare, a basic human right.