Not sure if it's gone up, but in 1999 an ambulance call out cost $50.
In light of this it makes total sense to me to charge a user fee for the ER.
But for NON emergency cases only. They could be billed later. And it should be significant. Say $50.
And a big huge sign warning people that "Non Emergency Cases Will Be Subject To A $50.00 Admitting Fee" probably would help. Maybe it could also have a reference associated with it, listing all the Walk-Ins in town.
I bet after reading such a sign, most non emergency cases, with any common sense, would turn right around and walk out the door.
Sure, there would probably be some delays created by some who would demand that their case is an emergency, but that likely already happens, given the present backlogs and people's impatience.
I am by no means an expert on this, however. I suspect there are reasons for doing it the way they do. (Such as trying to see everyone to avoid the disaster of determining someone as non emergency when they actually were. Some cases would be obvious, though).
Just my 2 cents.
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Mark.
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