Depending on what the ER doctor does for you and how much of his time you take up, it is probably from 40-80 bucks. What people like you don't understand is that an ER has 5-6 times the overhead that a clinic has (I'm just pulling random numbers from my hind-end).
The ER is more expensive than a clinic for many reasons:
-There are more nurses/techs/respiratory therapists/receptionists, etc. than at a clinic.
-That huge ER bill also goes to help pay the enormous power bill, and for the huge quantity of supplies that get used up on a daily basis.
-There is also a huge number of medicines/medical devices kept on stock in the Emergency Department that expire on a regular basis and have to be restocked, even though they haven't been used.
-To top it all off, there a lot more administrative overhead associated with emergency departments. There is much more paperwork generated as a result of government regulations, and the nurses are forced to spend at least half their time charting (ironically decreasing patient care time, and increasing the number of nurses needed on shift at any given time).
-Also, as was pointed out above, a lot of people don't pay because there is a misperception that they won't get sent to collections. So, people with insurance and who actually pay, get a larger proprotion of these costs.
If someone has more specific knowledge about specific numbers or can add other reasons why the ER is more expensive, feel free do do so.
(I was just talking to a patient the other day who works for a collections agency who gets most of their business from our ER, collecting bills from patients. Yes, you will get hounded about ER bills, and you will have your credit ruined by not paying them.)