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Wow, that's ridiculous.

A few years ago I had EKG, CT, Cardiac Stress Test and didn't pay a cent. Everything was done on modern equipment.
Our health insurance costs about 15% of the gross salary, about 7% is paid by the employer, about 8% by the employee. You can buy additional private insurance if you want. If you visit a doctor you pay 10 €, but you pay it only once in a quarter, no matter how often you visit your doctor.  
My doctor's office is in the house next to mine I can't really complain.
Our GDP per capita is somewhat lower than in the US, but our debt is much lower and we have lower unemployment.
I visited the US 3 times as a student and I must say that for the average person the quality of life is much higher in Western / Northern Europe. On the other hand, the really rich in the US have much more money than the rich in Europe.

So if you had no money they would take you to court and take your cardboard box you sleep in ? Or is there some budget allowed for cases like this built into everybody elses costs they pay.

Are all the hospitals privately owned and run for profit or are there like community ones or ones run by things like the church etc that are not for profit.

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Once you've lost your job, gone bankrupt or otherwise have no money, then you may qualify for Medicaid, which is a government program that pays for certain medical services for certain people. 

Some US hospitals are for profit, others are non-profit.  US hospitals are required by law to provide services to anyone who has a health emergency regardless of their ability to pay.  After they treat you, they will try to get you to pay.  If they can't get you to pay, the hospital has to suffer the loss.  So people with health insurance have to pay enough when they go to a hospital to fund the hospitals continuing operation.  If not, the hospital will close since it can't pay its bills.

So ultimately U.S. citizens already pay for the health care through higher insurance premiums to pay for those who don't have insurance or through the taxes that fund Medicaid.  So really the big difference between Europe and the US providing health care to the very sick is that the US system requires that the uninsured be driven into bankruptcy first or become so sick that the hospital can't turn them away. 

Doesn't sound like a good situation to me.

Its not perfect here in Australia by any means, but you don't have to be bankrupted if you get hit by a car by your medical bills.

The public hospitals provide all the emergency type care and extreme surgery such as transplants etc.

Private hospitals are more for having a baby, non emergency hospital stays and elective surgery like orthopedic type stuff.

If you have a non-critical operation you need eg knee surgery in the public system you will get it for free but have to wait a long time. If you have the money or your own private insurance you may only have to wait a couple of weeks and have it done at private hospital with the surgeon of your choice.

You can go to the GP for nothing if you go to a bulk billing clinic and wait but typically it would cost about $30 out of pocket after government rebate to go to GP. Prescription medications are subsidised by the government but they have to be on an approved list. If you have a health care card (for very low income earners etc.) its like $4 for a script.

The latest new drugs might not be on the list and you have to pay full price yourself.  

Our taxes are higher than a lot of other countries and there is also GST tax of 10% on everything except healthcare,food and education.  

Depends.  Italy, UK and a few other countries do have reciprical arrangements but in general, no.  You will need your own travel insurance (check major credit card inclusions - some are very good, but you generally have to pay for the travel on the CC).

What is your country XPTO?

QWERTY above said it well for Australia.  But if I could add that in general our public health system (Medicare) is all inclusive (not dental though unless you have a chronic condition, when dental is covered in some circumstances). There is a 1.5% salary levy, in reality an extra percentage on tax to help pay for it with some additional top up from general revenue. 

The end result, as QWERTY outlined is that if someone falls over in the street with a heart attack or equally urgent condition then there is no issue of delay for treatment or  the possibility that the citizen concerned has a sell-your-house moment or faces a bill of any kind.  This is comforting.  Most people down on their luck in this country are there through unfortunate circumstances. Of course there are people who simply will take all they can from other tax payers, but they really are in the minority.   

Most here top up our cover with private health insurance.  I get top private cover for around $250 per month.  This is affordable for most people on the average wage or above.

The figures quoted above for the US boggles the mind.  How do lower paid workers afford that type of cover if not covered by their employer, what about if a worker is retrenched – how do they get cover? 

The issue of the million dollar treatment mention by some is a red herring.  Sure, a very minimal number of such cases would occur, but the vast majority of individual treatment costs would not come near that.

Is it true that up until recently, a health insurance company in the US could refuse cover for pre-existing illnesses, put a cap on treatment, or refuse to reinsure someone who developed a chronic condition?    If so, that such a wealthy country could allow that to happen is a disgrace.   There are ways to provide a safety net health care system without bankrupting a country. 

Most civilized developed countries are already doing it.

We can of course throw out numbers like this - which ignores that health insurance amounts for government subsidiced insurance if you are employed is tied to the height of your income, so 1400$ for two may sound outrageously high, but it is at 15.5 percent out of your paycheck (I for instance pay about 150€ a month or 1800€ per year). Only "high earners-" who are employed, civic servants or self-employed have (to my knowledge) the option to shop for private insurance in Germany.  Oh, and my health insurance payments are (partially) tax-deductible.

"The issue of the million dollar treatment mention by some is a red herring.  Sure, a very minimal number of such cases would occur, but the vast majority of individual treatment costs would not come near that."

Minimal?  At the least, we are a nation of obese people, racking up treatments for diabetes, heart transplants, bypass surgeries.  Smoking, cancers, AIDS.... It's easy to pile up the bills.

And unfortunately there are too many people here that would rather just take a pill for it than treat the root cause.  A lot of those treatments could be made unnecessary if the patient would just lose weight, stop smoking, etc.  Seeing how well our government is managing medicaid fraud, social security, welfare, etc. makes me very reluctant to let them start managing my health care.  

I'd like to see that.

It will be transitioned to Medicade, which is the free insurance for the poor.

Don't forget you can get excellent health care at private hospitals in Asia, Singapore, Malaysia, India at 25-30% of the costs in the US. A friend had his gall bladder removed in a private hospital in state of Washington, was in hospital for 4 nights, his bills came to a whopping 40K (mostly of tests/use of medical equipment fee, hospital stay, medicine, doctors fees were actually a small part of the 40K (he was self insured then). He kicked and screamed and threatened and they brought it down to 25K which was what they would charge someone if the insurance co was paying for the same surgery. (yes, the sad truth is hospitals do charge you more if you are uninsured or self insured unless you threaten to go to the media, and 50% of personal bankruptcy in the US is due to run away medical bills). My sister in Asia had the her gall bladder removed and it costs her $3500 USD and she had excellent surgeon/care and more nurses per bed!!

US health care system is broken, costs are absolutely spiraling out of the control. $1000 per month just for health insurance for a family of 3-4 is going to be done at the expense of taking care of other basic needs, paying mortgages, eating healthy, taking a vacation to relax and rejuvenate from time to time. Basic medial care should be a basic right that a nation provide for its citizen. I would pay a little more taxes in the US if there is free basic health care. What good does it do even if you can deduct your medical expenses (and only after you exceeded the 6.5% AGI floor) because you will be broke anyway.

I am self employed and used to buy health insurance until they increased my payment 15-30% each year, at times 2x a year or at every renewal. The company's excuse was health care costs are going up every year and we try to keep the increase as little as possible, blah blah but we have no choice, BS really. I am very healthy, fit, but that did not matter. I got fed up with the "high way robbery of my money" that I decided I will self insure!! or if I can fly when i am sick, I will have my surgery in Asia. (I do have a small medical coverage with my auto insurance). I set aside some emergency funds and focus on being and staying healthy. It is not the ideal situation but I simply hate being "robbed"