Let me tell you about the "emergency care" issue in a border state.
My wife went to the emergency room in Yuma Arizona because she was running a 102 temperature and had very specific symptoms. (We told the staffers what the problem was because of my wife's medical history.) The waiting room was full (about 30 seats) and we were the only English speakers.
I'm betting also we were the only ones with insurance. That is because the clerk didn't ask but we volunteered my wife's insurance card. The clerk had to read the instructions on the card to use it.
It took three hours to see a doctor and he did every test under the sun: Chest x-ray (no cough), blood panel, urine specimen, and they started an IV. He spent a total of 35 seconds with her (the sum of two different visits to her cubicle) and confirmed what we knew, and told them. The bill was $250 in doctor fees and $450 in lab fees.
We walked out of there feeling that we just paid everyone's way that evening.
#8
Very generous of you, treating everyone to a night out!
Gracias por pagar nuestras cuentas médicas. Eso era muy agradable de usted, senor` Si, usted es un lechón.
http://translate.google.com/translate_t
Thank you for paying our medical bills. That was very nice of you, Sir. Yes, you are a sucker.
As more and more people learn about this free medical car, the only way the ERs will have to limit exposure is to keep their staffs low and make people wait longer and longer for their freebies.
Imagine how long it would take you to get a pizza delivered if the government required all pizzerias to deliver pizza regardless of the customers ability to pay.
Do you think you had more test performed because you did have insurance? That often the case.
If there were 30 in the waiting room and you were charged $700, that would be over $33 per patient.
Yup. It looks like you paid the freight that night, all right.
But look on the the bright side. The Emergency Room people got to use their English for a change. I'm sure they needed the practice!