[Krsqk]

"Let their family deal with the bills, the immediate ones anyway. The ones after that too, if they go there.
"I'm not a big fan of protecting people from their own bad choices by laws."

No, I'm not either. I'm just saying there are three choices

• Have "rich" (evil, greedy, etc.) insurance companies pay for everybody's injuries equally, no matter the cause. This means we all pay for each other's injuries, even ones from stupidity.
• Have individuals responsible for their own injuries also be responsible for their own bills. This usually results in the hospital having to eat much of the cost, as few people have enough money to pay for extended medical care. This in turn means that medical costs are raised, costing the insurance companies more, costing us more.
• Have government be responsible to pick up the tab for those who can't pay themselves. That's just a short step away from covering everybody, which makes the government a giant insurance company (albeit an inefficent one). Since we all fund the government, we would all pay for each other, except that the wealthier you are, the higher your share of taxes (and probably, the lower your share of benefits).

Currently, there is no way to make people totally responsible for their own injuries--at least not as long as you can default on medical bills and not be affected (they don't go on your credit history).

[ 10 April 2002: Message edited by: Krsqk ]