Uninsured Aurora Victim Could Face Millions In Medical Costs

Caleb Medley, Uninsured Aurora Shooting Victim, May Face $2 Million In Medical Costs (VIDEO)

An Aurora shooting victim could face millions in medical costs because he faces a common problem: He doesn't have health insurance.

The family of Caleb Medley has been told that his medical bills could cost up to $2 million if he fully recovers, CBS News reports (h/t ThinkProgress). Medley, who lacks health insurance, is currently in an induced coma after he was shot in the eye during Friday's Colorado tragedy. His wife, Katie, gave birth to their son in the same hospital Tuesday.

Medley’s story illustrates the dangers of remaining uninsured in America. The Affordable Care Act aims to help the ranks of that class, which has swelled for four straight years and is now approaching 50 million. The law, which the Supreme Court ruled constitutional last month, could extend health care coverage to up to 30 million uninsured Americans like Medley beginning in 2014.

As Medley's tragic story shows, going without health insurance can have stark consequences. About 26,000 Americans died prematurely in 2010 because they lacked health insurance, according to a recent report from Families USA.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/2 ... 99092.html

Here is why insuring EVERYBODY and mandates are necessary.

So, here's a 20-something who decided "I'm young, I'm healthy...I don' need no steenkin' medical insurance." Ooopsie. Well, (the cretins on the Right will say), he made his choice, and he has to live with it.

Uh, anybody want to guess who will end up paying for his medical treatment? Will he "do without?" ...No.... Will his parents/family go bankrupt? ...Possibly. Will the city/county/state/hospital end up paying for it? (which will be paid for by taxpayers and other insured folks in the form of higher premiums?) ...Why, Yes!

Yeah, $3 Trillion for killing people in unnecessary wars is "patriotic"; and spending $1 Trillion to help people and cover them with medical coverage is "socialism"...

Yep, some days I'm convinced that anthrax and pond scum are higher life-forms than most conservatives...

Wow, you'll use this tragedy any way you can to push the liberal agenda. Guess what, this family has already gotten over 70k in donations to a website that was just put up. This is not the government forcing charity, this is the American people (including myself), openning their wallets to help a family in need. And unlike taxes, this money isn't wasted by layers of bureaucracy and waste. But keep on trying to justify a shitty bill, in a few years when even you realize it was a mistakke, it will be too late.

Another pos response to a tragedy.

A victim facing $2million+ in medical bills is PART of the tragedy. The fact that you don't see it is not my problem.

And tell us LJ - who would be paying for his health insurance subsidies (since I am sure he isn't earning 400% of the poverty level) as well as the money that the health insurance company would be paying out? By golly, the very same folks who would be paying higher premiums to cover the higher costs of medical care incurred but not paid for. The way things used to be, the hospital could have, out of compassion for his plight, absorbed the costs of his care and written them off on their tax returns. Once everyone is insured and the money is coming from the evil rich insurance companies, however, there is no incentive for them to extend such compassion. Everyone at the hospital will get paid and the citizens of Colorado will get to cover the additional costs of this young man's care in higher health insurance premiums - and they will also have the added benefit of paying more taxes to the government so that the subsidies that those earning less than 400% of the poverty level can be increased to help them cover the higher cost of their health insurance. The money is coming from the same pockets SFB, it is simply going into different hands once it leaves your pocket.

If a hospital "absorbs" the costs for patients who can't pay...do you really think that isn't passed on to paying patients with higher costs....and higher insurance premiums to follow? One way or another we pay for the uninsured. If you don't believe that you must be an Arizona bridge salesman's dream client.

Oh, I understand quite well that I am going to be paying more for health care and health insurance now than I ever have in the past. The benefit of the old system was that at least some of the cost to the provider was recovered in lower taxes when they wrote off the debt. Now, of course, the rest of us get to pay the entire cost of providing the care. We'll be subsidizing health insurance premiums so that the folks who couldn't afford it before, and still can't afford it without the subsidies, can comply with the law which requires them to now have it whether they can afford it or not. I also realize that once they have insurance a large portion of them are going to be consuming more health care than they did in the past because the insurance I am paying for for them is going to pick up the cost. That means that the insurance company is going to be paying out more money, which means my premiums will be going up to help them cover those costs - along with the profit they earn, of course, in addition to the increased amount of money I am going to have to contribute for the subsidies.

Of course, none of this is going to stop one of the largest blocks of those who obtain their routine care via the emergency room, the illegal immigrants, because the ACA law exempts them from having to comply with the law or pay a tax if they fail to purchase health insurance.

I know that the cost of health care for those unable or unwilling to pay for it came out of my pockets - I am also more than aware that the cost of buying them insurance and paying for their care is still going to come out of my pockets. The only thing that has changed is whose hands the money goes into once it leaves my pockets and how much change I will have left in my pockets after dipping into them to pay for someone else's health care and health insurance.