Choosing Incredible Medical Insurance

3 Reasons To Visit Urgent Care Instead Of The ER If You Are Uninsured

One of the worst parts of living without medical insurance is the price you will pay if you visit a doctor for a medical problem. If you are experiencing a lot of pain from a recent arm injury and are afraid you might have a broken bone, you may need to see a doctor. Regular clinics do not typically have x-ray equipment, which means you will need to choose between urgent care and an emergency room. Here are three reasons visiting an urgent care facility is the better option for your situation.

Urgent Care Is Faster and More Convenient

If you are like most people, you probably have limited time in your life. If so, visiting the ER is probably not the best option. On average, people wait for 2.4 hours when visiting the ER for any reason. With urgent care, you can typically see a doctor within 45 minutes. In many cases, people wait even less than 45 minutes to see a doctor. 

ERs are busier than urgent care facilities, and they are usually understaffed and overcrowded at most times of the day. Why spend hours of your life sitting in a waiting room at the ER when you can be in and out of an urgent care facility in less than an hour or so?

You should always check the hours of your local urgent care center before going, though. Most are open seven days a week, but they do not always offer services 24 hours a day.

Urgent Care Is Less Costly

People with health insurance might not be as concerned with the costs of medical services, but people without insurance are. If you haven't been to a doctor yet for your arm injury, is it because you wanted to avoid racking up a huge medical bill? This is completely understanding and is a common reason people do not seek medical help.

If you cannot visit your regular doctor's office because it's closed or because it does not offer the services you need right now, a visit to urgent care would cost significantly less than a visit to the ER.

In fact, most ERs charge five to six times more than urgent care facilities for equivalent services. To really understand the differences in cost, just compare the average costs for each option. An average visit to the ER costs $1,757, while the average cost for urgent care is $153.

While ERs cannot turn you away uninsured people who need medical help, they may not offer any type of discount to you. Some urgent care facilities, on the other hand, offer self-pay options for people without insurance. A self-pay option typically results in a lower rate for the services you received, and it is available for anyone without insurance. The facility might even offer a payment plan for you if you cannot pay the full bill all at once.

The Quality of Care Is Equal

Finally, it's important for you to realize that both ERs and urgent care centers offer services of equal quality. In fact, the doctor you see at an urgent care center might spend more time with you than a doctor would at the ER. ERs are highly understaffed, which often means that doctors spend very little time with the patients they see.

If you cannot stand the pain any longer, there's no reason to wait. Contact an urgent care center today to find relief for your pain or any other health problem you may have. An urgent care center will cost less and require less time, and you will have the ability to receive the medical care you need.


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