Say No to Sycophantism

I've often talked with friends about differences between developed and
developing countries being on a slow but steady march to non-existence. This
is why:

"Hospitals are adopting a policy to improve their finances: making medical
care contingent on upfront payments. Typically, hospitals have billed people
after they receive care. But now, pointing to their burgeoning bad-debt and
charity-care costs, hospitals are asking patients for money before they get
treated."

In most developing countries [india, for example], health insurance is
non-existent. Government-run "charity" hospitals are infamous for low
standards of care, while many high-end private hospitals are better than
most community hospitals you will find even here in the US. Every private
hospital demands payment up-front before admitting a patient, regardless of
the patient's condition. This practice has always seemed pretty barbaric to
us here in the "developed" world, but is standard fare for locals. Now it
seems it's slowly cropping up in our "developed" and "industrialized"
country. Shame.

src: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120934207044648511.html?mod=djemHL