[gchappel]

"This is an easy one to get around. Tell the admitting nurse that (besides whatever is really ailing you) that you've noticed blood in your stool. They will take you in immediately, no waiting."

Yeah, that is a great idea. Why don't we all just say we are having crushing chest pain. Then lets give a fake name as well, then it is free. Then the patients that are truely sick, and truely have internal bleeding, or an actual MI can sit and wait as well. Yes they have to triage- vomiting for 3weeks is not likely to change in the next 2 hours, the fellow patient sitting next to you with chest pain might. Our ER's are packed to overflowing partially because somehow people think they can do any stupid thing they want, they don't have to have any insurance, and they can show up in the ER and people have to take care of them- and they do. If you don't want to wait try one of the walkin clinics that usually open around the ER's. They only take patients that are not really critically ill, and can pay. You get in and out a lot faster, but of coarse these profit centers are just sucking more money from the ER itself. Our collection rates from ER's averages about 30%- that is right about 1 out of 3 patients actually pays for their services. You seem to think the government somehow supports this system- nope, at least not to the doctors. This is going to get worse before it gets better.
Gary