Originally Posted by VELOv

Dude, a lot of hospitals won't let you see any doctor, even with another doctor referring you, if you don't have insurance--the only option is to go to the ED where they aren't allowed to turn you away, which is what I had to do when I started having simple partial seizures as an adult. It wasn't emergent in that I hadn't lost consciousness, but by rights, I should have been able to see a doctor within a month of presentation, just because of the horrible things that could have been causing the seizures. . . ED was my only option.

But anyway, pregnancy test wands cost like $15 for a three-pack at the drugstore, whereas the ER has much lower expectations with billing. My downstairs neighbor owes something like $40,000 between his recurrent "kidney stones," some busted teeth and the time he punched his wall.