American health care: A Canadian asks some questions?

I dont know all the facts, but I will do my best to answer your questions. As far as not being able to show coverage, It can depend on the hospital. Some may not treat the person, but usually that is not the case. Doctors have an obligation to try to do everything to save a persons life, insurance or not. You can recieve medical treatment and be billed for it later, this is how it nearly always happens. You are given a period of time to pay and if you dont, it will reflect on your credit. Also, they have the right to recieve payment, if you continue to not pay, they can repo items to cover the balance. As far as family insurance goes, it depends on a lot of things, where you get your insurance, what kind of deductable you want to have, what percentage of the bill you would like covered, how many males and females there are,. and if you need maternity insurance. I personally have a private plan with 100% coverage, a $20 copay $15-$30 perscriptions, $2500 deductable, and I pay roughly $200 per month. It just depends on what you are looking for. The reason we do not like the idea of a universal health care, is because we can choose to go to any doctor or hospital we want, and depending on where we go we can choose the level of treatment we recieve. In a universal health care system, you cannot do this because all doctors will recieve the same pay for their services, which in turn will make the ones who provide a better service lower their standards.