The New York Times has an interesting article about hospitals that are providing free basic health care to uninsured patients. Their incentive is primarily financial:

In one 18-month period, Ms. Dodd, 38, was rushed almost monthly to the emergency room, spent weeks in the intensive care unit and accumulated more than $191,000 in unpaid bills.

(skipping)

With patients like Ms. Dodd, “they can have better care and we can reduce the costs for the hospital,” said Dr. Melissa Smith, medical director of three community health centers run by Seton, a Roman Catholic hospital network that uses its profits and donations to provide nearly free care to 5,000 of the working poor. Over the last 18 months, Ms. Dodd’s health has improved, and her medical bills have been cut nearly in half.

Later on in the article, government agencies tangle with each other. A transplant patient on federal disability received Social Security benefits that disqualified her from the transplant queue. Her Medicare eligibility next March will put her back on the queue. What a mess, and another argument for choosing charity over government coercion when it comes to helping the poor.