jeremiadOtiose

Why are ERs used as primary care?

EMTALA, which requires an ED to treat anybody who walks thru the door, regardless of ability to pay.

Why is a hospital so much more expensive to provide primary care than a urgent care or Dr's office?

overhead, including being open 24/7

Can we not set up a system that provides health care rather than 'insurance ' that costs 1200 a month yet seems to cover nothing?

there are direct primary care clinics that charge $1-3k a year to join and you can see your doctor freely during the year. it doesn't cover labs, which you'd use insurance to pay, or find a lab that's cheap to do them at a cash rate (rare). they recommend keeping high deductible insurance, so you can get that expensive surgery, or if youa re in a trauma.

also there's a surgical center in Oklahoma that is cash only and publishes all their rates online, and is VERY competitive. https://surgerycenterok.com/

also, it should be noted, the average person doesn't know what is an emergency or not. that chest pain grandpa feels could be an MI, or it could be heartburn. only one way to find out, and it's expensive. fortunately grandpa has medicare.

did he alert you that he mentioned you, or were you happening to be browsing reddit and less than 15 mins later, replied to his comment about you? he didn't call you out when he used your name, so it's impressive if you just happened upon it organically (or was it the great Algorithm that did it???)...

of course.

yeah so your troponins were negative, clearing you of an MI. but the only way to know is to get that blood test, which requires an ER visit.