Originally Posted by kane

To some degree. You can get emergency care, but maybe not much more than that. For example I read a story a few months back about a woman who lost her job then found out she had cancer. Her fiancee couldn't put her on his health insurance because her cancer was now a preexisting condition. She got some immediate care, but they would not give her radiation or any other treatment unless she paid for it.

Eventually she was able to find a non-profit group to help with some of the costs and she and her fiancee sold pretty much everything they had to help with the other costs. Had she not found this group or not been able to raise the money she probably would have died because she couldn't afford the care.