They shouldn’t, but they can because they are not ding’d for it.
There’s a reason that a mission group I’m familiar with goes to Haiti and gives out free medicines, but they make everybody who stands in line pay a minimal fee like $3-5. If they pay nothing to see the doctor, they don’t value the service and take it for granted.
The MCaid patients who likely all have free smart phones, Section 8 housing, EBT, etc, could well afford a small co-pay to have some skin in the game, as well as making it just high enough to deter ER use for routine things.
I agree completely.