hospital bedAdding insult to injury, many of the Aurora, Colorado movie theater shooting victims don't have insurance. Which means that in addition to being left completely traumatized, they're going to be left with an ever-growing pile of bills. Some of them, at least.

Three out of the five hospitals treating the victims of James Holmes -- Children's Hospital Colorado, Medical Center of Aurora, and Swedish Medical Center -- will be doing so at either a significant discount, or at no cost whatsoever. The other two hospitals treating people -- Denver Health Medical Center and University of Colorado Hospital -- haven't outright said they will cover costs, but there have been indications that they're going to provide some discounted, or free, care for the victims.

As they should. Who cares about rules and red tape during a time like this?

When something as devastating and insane as the Dark Knight shooting occurs, all administrative protocol should be thrown out the window. Here were a group of innocent people just out to see a movie, not bothering a soul, when they were shot at multiple times -- some dying, some getting injured, some barely escaping. Of course victims should be treated pro-bono if they don't have insurance. This is an exceptional situation. It deserves to be an exception to what's normally done.

Although nothing can ever change what happened to those poor people in Aurora that night, all these little stories of bravery and kindness that keep emerging make it a little bit easier to believe that the world isn't all bad.

Do you think the uninsured Aurora victims should be treated at no cost?


Image via Viajar24h.com/Flickr