It's left some patients, even on their deathbeds, fearing mawr for the cost of care than for their own lives.

So what happens if you're uninsured in America, where your bills be paid?

And will America's health care system continue to profit?

Also, pandemic In total my bill was 30 $5000.

Patients end up going through bankruptcy to pay medical bills.

What motivates them is making money.

This is a huge word, but it's something we're gonna look at, and we have been looking first things first.

How does the U.

S health care system work?

Why aren't some people covered off the roughly 330 million Americans?

Just over 73% have some form of private medical insurance organized through their employer further, 18% of covered by the state funded plans Medicare and Medicaid.

But that's mostly for those over 65 and some on low income added under President Obama, which leaves about 30 million people 9% of the population with no medical insurance at all.

When you don't have health insurance, the cost of going to a doctor can be enormous and, you know, way above the capacity of any individual to pay.

Three healthcare lobbyists to every member of Congress are paid to ensure the status quo is maintained.

Many people say the high cost of insurance is the main reason they lack coverage.

Some simply don't have access to coverage through their job.

And some people, particularly poor people in states that didn't expand Medicaid as the government run fund, remember, just can't get access to financial help.

In normal times, thes people struggle within a global pandemic.

They become acutely vulnerable.

And as the economy grinds to a halt and more people lose their jobs, more are also losing their access to health coverage through their employer.

There is a law in the U.

S.

That means if you present at the emergency room, you have a right to be treated whether you're insured or not.

But the big question for the uninsured is who is going to pay for?

That's the very question being asked by dying patients.

According to this front line nurse, I've been in critical care for 12 years of no stranger to some of the pitfalls of our health care system in the United States.

Ah, however, I just have never seen it in such dire circumstances.

I think it's the last thing something someone should have to worry about when they're so critically ill.

In requiring such a lifesaving measure.

And take Danny a skinny.

She's already battling cancer, undergoing chemotherapy and recovering from Corona virus.

In total, my bill was 35 $5000.

Danny was briefly uninsured while moving states for a new job.

In that time, she contracted Covert 19.

Since then, she racked up a huge bill.

After going back and forth from emergency rooms on I see use paying for tests and care.

How did you feel when having gone through everything you've been through with cancer and then with Cove it So then have this huge bill land on your doorstep?

It's devastating.

It's exhausting.

It feels like What's the point of having worked for the last 20 years?

What was the point of going to school?

Her home state of Massachusetts says her monthly salary exceeds the $1400 limit, so she didn't qualify for financial help while undergoing chemotherapy.

She told us this.

I'm so furious that corporations are getting bailed out, left and right while hospital bills stack up for sick people, it doesn't seem right.

It's exhausting.

But I'm still alive, and that's a lot.

Massachusetts State Authority told us they would look into Danny's case.

I would like to help resolve this individual situation, doctors say.

Danny's case, though, isn't unique, and this is happening across America.

Patients going through bankruptcy to pay medical bills.

It's just it's just a crisis exacerbated.

I think it's inevitable that are there are many, many people who are avoiding going to the hospital or delay going to the hospital because they are afraid of the ability.

What's the worst case scenario here as an E R doctor, that must greatly disturb you?

The worst case scenario is they stay home and they did.

I never see them.

With tens of thousands of Americans already dead from Kobe 19 the pressure is on the government to flatten curves across states and make sure everyone gets the care they need.

So is President Trump's administration doing anything to protect the uninsured?

Well, he's aware of the concerns.

Even his favorite news channel, Fox, has been challenging him on it This is a huge worry for people in this country who were in that doughnut hole we don't have.

They don't have commercial insurance, they don't qualify for Medicaid.

What do we owe looking?

Are you committing that E can't commit?

I have to get approval from and I have a thing called Congress.

Ah, yes, that thing, called Congress has passed a bipartisan bill to help with testing, testing, testing.

This legislation facilitates free Corona virus testing for everyone who needs a test, including the uninsured.

Although Danny, who you saw earlier told us her Corona virus test cost her $970 that's likely to have happened because her bill came before the emergency measures kicked in on while President Trump is saying he's looking into this, who's actually turned his back on plans to expand coverage to uninsured Americans in this crisis, health insurers were getting ready for a White House announcement to expand Obama care, which would give newly uninsured Americans who had lost their job a chance to enroll in health insurance plans.

The announcement never came.

Trump has long been opposed to Obamacare, which, as we mentioned earlier, expanded Medicaid to lots of low income Americans, as well as trying to make health insurance plans from private companies more affordable.

Obama care is dead incentive for a long time.

Trump's plan is now to cover Corona virus treatments for the uninsured.

By paying hospitals for those costs, they should alleviate any concern uninsured Americans may have about seeking the Corona virus treatment with the hospital groups themselves.

Don't know what this will look like on the floors of a complex system are suddenly in razor sharp.

Focus.

Health care industry in the United States is broken, and there's not gonna be an easy way.

There's no one system.

There's no one biller.

There's no one company that you owe this debt obligation to, and there's no protections for people like me who are poor and sick.

Andi puts you in an impossible position.

You might be thinking, if people are struggling this much without insurance in the midst of a global pandemic, why are the costs of insurance simply lowered well written off altogether for the hospitals?

Although you know there's been an effort to ship this sick patients are you know how they make money.

At least three of the big insurance companies have said that they will waive some costs for people during this crisis.

But this man who used to work in the industry says they're still putting profits before patients.

What motivates them?

Eyes making money?

In my tenure, working with the top executives of these companies, I know I can assure you that the main motivation is to meet Wall Street's expectations.

I can't even pending a conversation at that level with the top executives about the health and well being of the people who are insured by the company.

People would hear that and be a dog.

Frankly, I did it myself for 20 years.

I can assure you that is exactly what's going on.

America's biggest insurer, UnitedHealth Group, is one of the companies saying it'll wave costs for some people.

But given the in the 1st 3 months of 2020 it made $5 million it could probably afford to United Health Group says from the outset of the Kobe 19 pandemic are singular.

Priority has remained clear.

The health, safety and support of the people in communities we serve.

But let's face it, the American health care system has always prioritised those who are able to pay for care.

But now, with a contagious killer virus spreading around the country indiscriminately, the health of the poor in society becomes Justus.

Important is the health of the wealthiest.

Some think it's this that will spark change.

It's a once in a generation moment.

I've often thought the impetus for the National Health Service in the UK came at the end of World War Two.

If we cut out the money, what is with this brings?

Then there been no reason to put off getting advice and treatment.

And maybe this could be our moment in this country for people to wake up, to realize we've got to do something fundamentally different from what we've done in the past.

America is, of course, not unique in the pain this virus is causing its people.

Health systems in countries across the world have been stretched during this crisis.

Not enough beds, not enough tests, not enough ventilators, not enough protective equipment.

No vaccine.

Yet While most Europeans are benefiting from a universal health care system often free at the point of use, the health care debate in America rages on.

But this time more lives are on the line than ever before.