Posted On: November 20, 2008, 1:56 pm CST

Posted By: in portland

My mother is a nurse, and yes the hospitals have to treat everyone. When the homeless/uninsured/illegals here wind up in the hospital, they get treated and released, and the hospital gets the bill. So yes, it does cost the system money. Maybe not the "health insurance" system, but the entire healthcare industry, you betcha. Hospitals get stuck will he bills, have to recoup the costs, raise service fees, then insurance goes up to cover the increased costs, etc etc.