If you file Chapter 7 on medical bills can that medical facility refuse to treat you again?

Answer 1

The compassionate response would be no. However, any private hospital can refuse to treat anyone, the exception is a "life or death" situation. Even so a patient can be transferred to another facility as soon as they are stable. This is why many hospitals in metro areas are designated Trauma Centers. They then are obligated to treat anyone in need of medical attention.

Legally, no hospital can turn away a patient with an acute condition. As above, they can (and probably will) transfer the patient when they are stable.

The point of this rule is to allow anyone who absolutely needs acute care (heart attack, stroke, etc.) to get that care, but to discourage people from using emergency services for primary care. A good example of this is Diabetes. A patient may present to an ED with an acute issue like a diabetic coma d/t hypolycemia and they will be treated. That same person can not show up 2 weeks later asking for refills on the diabetes meds from the ED rather than seeing a physician in a clinic on an outpatient basis.

The cost of medical services in the ED is much higher than a clinic. This rule helps to keep hospital charges down by preventing frivolous use of the ED. It makes healthcare cheaper for everyone.