"Nor should it mean ignoring the fact and pretending it doesn't exist, as is the current norm."

"..as is the current norm." IS another generalization!

OF COURSE there is a problem in some areas and OF COURSE the media does an inadequate job of sorting out & publicizing the problem and OF COURSE dealing with all aspects of it would cost someone more time & money than they wish to part with....

but it is still a false picture to suggest that it is still "the norm" in most places & situations.
   It is totally important to publicize cases like this and to seek corrective action and to sue and punish institutions and to remove officials who allow neglect to happen. But I am SO tired of broad brushes being used to paint "America" as sad & hopeless and & uncaring.

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Are hospitals really allowed to say "Pay up or die"?

It's not usually a matter of "allowing" by hospitals. The hospital treated this man... his insurance company decided that once treated & supposedly stabilized, they were not required to keep him IN a hospital forever. It is still unclear (Google :'Monroe Bird' to see) how his situation changed and the blood clot developed.... but it IS common for people to be sent home when it is a matter of long-term care. Clearly, in this case, he SHOULD have been watched more closely and probably remained in the hospital longer. I've no doubt the doctors & insurance company will disagree, and legal actions seem to be proceeding on that issue. I suspect that if this had happened in, say, Portland Oregon, care would likely have been better.

   *MY* point is not to defend either the guard who shot him, the hospital, or the stingy insurance company. I simply want to suggest a more reasonable way of describing such incidents. IF there seems to be a more widespread problem, explain how THIS incident fits it. "Guess what color he is." is a biased viewpoint OF a biased situation.

In this world today, incidents we'd never have heard about 50 years ago are now spread by blogs, 3-4 different cable channels with different viewpoints, and countless Facebook posts, using language that is designed to be provocative. There are dozens...or hundreds.. of incidents every day that need to be investigated & publicized. Our computer screens & TVs are as full of bad news as we can cope with... but there are GOOD people & institutions everywhere trying to make positive inroads on the problems.... you just seldom hear about them. Picking one and saying it is "an indictment of all America" is ............ stupid... well, careless and useless.