How's this for crazy:

My wife had to go to the ER, in a Brooklyn "city" hospital, three weeks ago and was given emergency surgery, which my healthcare pays for - including one followup visit with the surgeon. He wanted to see her again in two weeks, but the hospital does not accept my insurance (UHC), so we asked how much it would cost to pay cash. Guess what? They do not accept cash, and if you don't have a plan that they accept, you can't come back for more care even if you want to pay out of pocket.

Unbelievable, or what? I know one thing - there are probably people that will get care no matter what, but that's best left to the imagination.

The municipalities are so tied-up in getting taxes for everything, the middle-class gets screwed even if they WANT to pay for something themselves.