the emergency room

well not every hospital they can go to they must go to a county hospital can not go to a private one.

I think that emergencies are what emergencies are for but you have to look at it geographically as well I live in a very small town and we have limited resources for doctors. However my town got smart and put in an urgent care clinic as well so if you can't get an appt with your doctor you can see someone at the urgent care clinic instead of clogging up the er. As far as uninsured patients not paying their bills making the cost go up I think in part this is true but it speaks more to our medical systems failure not that of the patient. More and more companies are not offering insurance and to get it privately is extremely costly. I think the medical system needs to be reformed and we need to have more of a socialized medicine than what we have. And while we are on the subject of insurance companies when and where did they get the license to practice medicine. They are telling doctors what test they can and can not run as well as how long to keep you hospitalized. That should be the doctors desecion not the insurance companies oh! don't get me started. lol