[UA] A question

[Kevin Mowery]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ronnie Grahn" <zyko at telia.com>
To: "Unknown Armies" <ua at lists.uchicago.edu>
Sent: Friday, December 15, 2000 1:32 PM
Subject: [UA] A question


> Hello!
> I'm wondering about medical care in the US (especially Texas if it's very
> different from the other states).
> One of my pc got seriously injured (knife stabbed in the throat, shot in
the
> stomach and severly beaten) and he's just a poor Bodybag.
> How does it work in the states if you'r dirt poor like Mr. Bodybag is?
Will
> he get the treatment and then be handed a BIG bill? Or do they have some
> kind of quota for non-paying customers (this is what watching ER has told
> me)?

    Well, it depends.  As others have pointed out, hospitals are obligated
to report gunshot wounds to the police.  (In one of my games, this resulted
in a hurried visit to the hospital by an epideromancer who rearranged the
face and body of the gunshot victim, who was wanted for mail fraud.  They
ended up leaving the hospital with one heavily-doped up, gunshot computer
hacker and a trashbag full of extra flesh.)

    As far as payment, the hospital will *typically* fix a person up and
then worry about the bill.  The poor might qualify for some government
assistance, but many people in the Occult Underground probably don't like to
have lots of records of themselves floating around in government computers.
Some hospitals are probably also willing to work out payment plans, although
then things like your weekly salary become an issue.  Again, this means
records and credit checks and that whole mess.

    If you really want to hit the characters where it hurts, have them go to
a hospital run by an HMO (Health Management Organization).  The purpose of a
lot of HMO's, it seems, is to get as much money as they can.  If you've got
insurance, they'll take good care of you.  If you don't have insurance or a
lot of money, you're likely to get a five minute diagnosis and a handful of
meds.


Kevin Mowery_____________profbobo at io.com
Visit www.narbonic.com for the best online comic
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