Government-mandated Critical Care
In the United States and most industrialized nations, emergency medical providers are required to treat any patient that has a life-threatening condition, irrespective of the patient's financial resources. In the US, the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) requires that hospitals treat all patients in need of emergency medical care without considering patients' ability to pay for service.
This government mandated care places a cost burden on medical providers, as critically ill patients lacking financial resources must be treated. Medical providers compensate for this cost by passing costs on to other parts of the medical system, through increased prices for other patients and through collection of government subsidies.
Read more about this topic: Health Care Prices
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