Now is the best time to start a serious debate on how to fix our healthcare system, according to several doctors.
Two of them made a case recently for medical insurance that's much more transparent than what we've all experienced, stuck as we are with a costly system that drags us into insurmountable debt in some cases, and denies healthcare to some patients for reasons that often aren't understood by those most affected by the decisions.
Dr. Bill Hennessey of CashForCare.us says it's those insurance decisions that can cause some patients to attempt to game the medical system by going to an emergency room for care that's been denied by their doctors or, especially, insurance companies.
It will likely get the procedure done, but at a very high cost, he says.
"You're not going to get out of an ER for anything less than $4,000 and as much as $30,000 in today's world. For real."
And denials aside, even when doctors and insurance companies okay procedures, there are high deductibles that must be met -- the lower the income a person has, the more likely higher deductibles are needed.
"Let's face it, about a hundred million of us have a high deductible, of which 80%, almost 90% in recent stats, almost never meet."
Emergency rooms, by law, must treat those who present themselves, and that's been taken advantage of for many years by illegal immigrants, he says.
"Under federal law, you don't have to be a citizen, or you could be a citizen, but if you come in through the ER, they have to treat you."