Josh is upset about a 50k hospital bill (after he got shot end season 1) and the insurance not covering it. Wouldn't being shot on the job working for the president, ensure bills paid in full. The government typically has the best insurance and even so, shouldn't the White House cover something like this? He wasn't shot in a drive by buying a six pack of beer 50 miles from the WH
shareI believe you are entirely correct. But who understands health insurance? Actually, that question may have been the original idea behind this plot thread, but instead it ended up being a setup for Sam's concept of civil suits against extremists. Which is somewhat at odds with his earlier position against going after them in 2:3 The Midterms.
In And It's Surely to Their Credit, Sam indicates that the insurer is denying a large portion of Josh's claim because the hospital was out of network. This might apply to a HMO or PPO personal policy. High level government employees generally do indeed have good personal insurance coverage, but as you indicate, Josh was shot while on the job, so it would not fall under his personal insurance, but under workers comp.
As I understand it, West Wing Staff are Excepted Service employees of the Federal Civil Service within the White House Office of the Executive Office of the President. Thus, they would be covered by the Federal Employee Compensation Program, which provides workers compensation coverage for employees of the government. This program would cover any costs for medical treatment for injuries sustained on the job, and the choice of provider is entirely up to the employee under this program. The program would also cover any loss of income and rehabilitation expenses. I have no idea how difficult it is to get claims paid under this program. It is a government program, after all.
Might just be a plot device gone awry.