who does end up paying the bill when emergency care is done for people who don't have insurance coverage and can't afford the bill?
No time for an in-depth answer, but if the patient really can't or won't pay it, the hospital has to write it off. But this isn't good for the patient, either - the charge-off will show on their credit report, and since everyone from creditors to employers to insurance companies to landlords pulls a person's credit these days, that's a serious problem.
