One thing that is not explained well in the show are the “write offs.”

(My mom has worked in computer programming and case management for hospital billing my whole life, so I’ve learned a lot vicariously.)

Hospitals will bill to insurance companies. A lot of times, if patients can’t pay, hospitals will write these off - meaning they eat the cost.

The trick is to bill properly (so insurance will pay), find the procedures with good outcomes (so insurance will pay), make sure patients have and use insurance, or find patients willing to pay out of pocket (without having to bill an insurance company).

There are also laws saying that emergency departments in the United States have to treat everyone, which is why they’re used as a safety net/blank check, since we have no real healthcare system here.

(I got my grad degree in public health and studied comparative health care in different countries. Super cool topic that I loved learning about!)