In each and every mechanism you just listed, somebody has to pay and it is not the one who runs up the bill. Can't you see it? The time and effort spent to ressurect the person who was gravely ill is gone and can't get back. That's MONEY and that's gone! Somebody has to pay for that to balance the account.
The hospital can not print money. You negotiate with the hospital and pay 20% of the bill. Good for you. What about the rest 80%? Who pays for that? Hospital? How? Yeah, they can wipe the account clean. But the cost of the operation can't be wiped clean. The 80% they lost in this operation has to come from somewhere else. This somewhere else are 1) insurance company (by raising the charges to the insured), 2) government subsidy, 3) private donations. In each case, it is the "others" who pay the bill, not the person who received the service.
If the hospital can't get the 80% back, soon or later, the hospital would bankrupt.
