Ripped off at walk in ER

[u/Forward-Worker-9029]

Went in after I got rear ended to get checked out. They saw me right away (they were empty) and did an xray. Doc came in and said “well nothing is broken so you can go”. Very dismissive as a side note. Prescribed ibuprofen and sent me walking. The whole ordeal was maybe 45 min with alot of alone time. BILL $24,100. Of course this was all run through my State Farm insurance of which I was told I had 10k in PIP. They paid the er the full 10k and now I’m on the hook for the rest of my mri’s and Chiro treatment that was supposed to be covered. Is this normal????? 24k for a 45 min stupid visit?? What do I do.

[u/djlauriqua]

I do not work in an ER (so don't come for me), but I have family and friends that do. To be honest, most people do not need to go to the ER after a car accident. Of course, if it's high-speed, high-impact; airbags go off; you have severe pain (head, abdomen, extremity, etc), go to the ER! But if you get into a fender bender, then it's silly. They see so many unnecessary ER visits for stuff like this. (plus, many times the patient is acting like a fool cuz they're gonna try to sue the other party...).

[u/nrappaportrn → u/djlauriqua]

Exactly. ER's should be reserved for real emergencies

[u/SafeLongjumping2712 → u/nrappaportrn]

Thats why there is a triage.

[u/StolenFriend → u/SafeLongjumping2712]

Triage doesn’t screen out non emergencies though, it just moves them to the back of the line. We still have to treat them.