Getting Health Insurance in an Emergency
This is an attempt to drive people to urgent care centers or doctor's offices which are less expensive and can save the insured money. Exceptions exist for referrals from a physician to the ER for non ER services, non ER services provided to children under age 14, instances when an urgent care clinic is more than 15 miles away and when care is administered on Sundays and major holidays.Necessary ER VisitsThere is a lot of grey area here but the Affordable Care Act defines an emergency as anything that "a prudent layperson, possessing an average knowledge of medicine and health" would believe to be emergent and in need of immediate attention.That leaves it to the patient to self-diagnose and then decide which is the most prudent place to go. Of course, it does not help that ER staff and doc...