As more an more Floridians find themselves without a job, and often as a result, without health insurance, more area hospitals are feeling the burden. Without health insurance to cover medications and preventative care, Floridians become critical in their illnesses and are forced to seek treatment in emergency rooms. Of course, due to the nature of emergency treatment, the treatment is provided first and the payment is collected later, which of course gives people the opportunity not to pay. Those who are deemed unable to pay are considered a charity case and the cost is written off, while those who can pay but choose not to are considered bad debt. The number of charity cases that hospitals have dealt with has nearly doubled since 2005. Unfortunately, the money these hospitals are receiving from the government is not changing, which can affect their bottom line quite significantly, resulting in lay offs and other cost cutting efforts. What needs to be done to improve this situation?