Only if they don’t plan on paying anyways. They are on Medicaid already or illegal.
Otherwise the uninsured are the only ones watching their costs, because they have to pay the bill.
I can tell you from experience that the answer is no. They do not go to the ER.
Everything is negotiated on a cash basis and the lowest cost quality care is chosen.
Blue Haired Old Lady
March 12th, 2010 at 3:51 AM
I think sick people go get care when they have to. Sometimes the cost is the least of your worries. Sometimes they feel they don’t have any other choice.
The last two times I was in the ER with my mother when she had kidney failure the waiting room was packed with people with snot nosed kids wanting to be seen. I doubt they would have taken their kid to the ER if they had any choice – or if they had to pay the bill themselves. I think we need more walk in clinics to handle these people, and the clinics need to have hours that allow poor working people to access the services. People in low wage jobs usually don’t have the luxury of taking off work to take a sick kid to the doctor so they go to the ER for after hours service. There are plenty of problems with our current system that create some of the problems we are seeing.
Comments