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How do indigent people afford ER bills? Thousands of dollars a visit.

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DCal430

Diamond Member
Seems like most indigent people use the ER for things other people would see a regular doctor for. A single visit to the ER for even something simple like a flu could be $5000 without insurance. Thousands of dollars for each visit. How do they pay for these bills? I assume they don't pay them often times, so then who pays them?
 
DCal430 said:
Seems like most indigent people use the ER for things other people would see a regular doctor for. A single visit to the ER for even something simple like a flu could be $5000 without insurance. Thousands of dollars for each visit. How do they pay for these bills? I assume they don't pay them often times, so then who pays them?
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the people who have income and insurance pay them.
 
People go to the ER for mild things because they legally can't be turned away without treatment. A regular doctor, on the other hand, can tell them to GTFO if they don't have insurance.

To answer your question of how they pay the bills: They don't.
 
You don't think it really costs $5000 for a visit the ER do you?

It cost you that much because they legally cannot refuse anyone emergency treatment, and they pass the costs on to you, the paying customer.
 
Could you just claim to be indigent and not pay the bill. How do they know you really have no money?

Lets say you fall and break a femur bone, and go to the ER. You get a bill for $10,000, and you are uninsured. Can you just say you are poor and have no money, and not pay? Will they go after you?
 
DCal430 said:
Could you just claim to be indigent and not pay the bill. How do they know you really have no money?

Lets say you fall and break a femur bone, and go to the ER. You get a bill for $10,000, and you are uninsured. Can you just say you are poor and have no money, and not pay? Will they go after you?
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Yes. IIRC they will send collection agencies after you.
 
DCal430 said:
Could you just claim to be indigent and not pay the bill. How do they know you really have no money?

Lets say you fall and break a femur bone, and go to the ER. You get a bill for $10,000, and you are uninsured. Can you just say you are poor and have no money, and not pay? Will they go after you?
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Yes. And fraud is a serous crime.
 
Yup, its well known.

The ER can't turn you away and will take care of your immediate problem. Thats why there are so many people sitting there for 4 hours with a cold but you get rushed past them all with your broken arm.
 
If you don't work and don't have an income, things are free for you in America. Free food and shelter, and free healthcare. This is why everyone wants to come here
 
OverVolt said:
Yup, its well known.

The ER can't turn you away and will take care of your immediate problem. Thats why there are so many people sitting there for 4 hours with a cold but you get rushed past them all with your broken arm.
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There are cases of problems being more serious than the ER thinks too. Because I waited 6 hours to see someone, I now have permeant damage to my eye. Slight scaring of my cornea and some halos at night. Every website I checked said my condition warranted immediate attention, which I did not get. Even after I complained of significant blurred vision and pain, I still had to wait 6 hours.
 
OverVolt said:
Yup, its well known.

The ER can't turn you away and will take care of your immediate problem. Thats why there are so many people sitting there for 4 hours with a cold but you get rushed past them all with your broken arm.
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The wait times at Parkland Hospital (county hospital in Dallas that cannot turn anyone away) can be over 24 hours...

Some lady that sprained her ankle left the waiting room after waiting 24 hours and still hadn't seen a doctor...The Hospital tried to collect fees from her but once the story went public, the hospital magically waived the fees...
 
DCal430 said:
There are cases of problems being more serious than the ER thinks too. Because I waited 6 hours to see someone, I now have permeant damage to my eye. Slight scaring of my cornea and some halos at night. Every website I checked said my condition warranted immediate attention, which I did not get. Even after I complained of significant blurred vision and pain, I still had to wait 6 hours.
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See OP: You can thank the uninsured masses going for their runny noses and coughs for your experience.
 
xanis said:
See OP: You can thank the uninsured masses going for their runny noses and coughs for your experience.
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I don't think so. They are supposed to triage their patients. It sounds like borderline malpractice to me. My eye doctor once got called to the ER during my visit to operate on a torn cornea. Clearly he hadn't been waiting 6 hours in that case.
 
torpid said:
I don't think so. They are supposed to triage their patients. It sounds like borderline malpractice to me.
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I agree, his situation was definitely extreme. However, when you have ERs full of people with minor problems, things like that probably happen more than they should.
 
torpid said:
I don't think so. They are supposed to triage their patients. It sounds like borderline malpractice to me. My eye doctor once got called to the ER during my visit to operate on a torn cornea. Clearly he hadn't been waiting 6 hours in that case.
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I had a corneal ulcer, and the triage nurse I think thought it was just dust in my eye. It was so painful in the ER room with the bright light. It was hell.
 
xanis said:
See OP: You can thank the uninsured masses going for their runny noses and coughs for your experience.
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Insurance isn't going to fix that...if they can't afford a doctor visit or cold medicine, they probably can't afford insurance either.

The answer is affordable health CARE.
 
This is why so many hospitals in California around to the south are having money troubles and are on the verge of closing down. I know there are two hospitals in atlanta that have been bailed out a couple times cause they are forced to treat so many people who do not have insurance(or green cards...). At some point there will be no money to bail them out. I don't remember the figure, but the amount of money the hospitals have to eat by birthing children of people who cannot afford children was amazing to me. But ah well, it gets them more welfare.

And who is going to want to go through college and medical school to become a doctor who basically works for nothing?
 
DCal430 said:
Seems like most indigent people use the ER for things other people would see a regular doctor for. A single visit to the ER for even something simple like a flu could be $5000 without insurance. Thousands of dollars for each visit. How do they pay for these bills? I assume they don't pay them often times, so then who pays them?
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they don't pay.

pretty simple.
 
I recently had to visit the ER and I would say 80% of the people there look like they would not be able to pay for their visit. Even with insurance I still had to pay about half of the bill.
 
The reason you pay so much is because there are plenty of people that pay nothing. Chronically homeless, addicted patients with mental health issues can utilize hundreds of thousands of dollars of healthcare in a year.
 
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