I think you probably mean "people like me". If you are on HN, you are likely to be employed, curious, affluent (or on your way), educated, rational. There are

I think you probably mean "people like me". If you are on HN, you are likely to be employed, curious, affluent (or on your way), educated, rational. There are lonely people who call QVC just to talk to the salesperson and end up buying whatever they are selling at that time. Those people also end up in the hospital and may realize it's cheaper if their copay is tiny or non-existent. That said, I don't think it's limited to statistical outliers. The average, middle-class, insured family[1] is already likely to go to the emergency room even when they don't need to, causing long waits and drastically raising costs. Single-payer _may_ help with this (assuming there is much better communication about when to go, where to go, better scheduling tools, nurses available on the phone to mitigate emergency room visits, etc), but it's not a given. [1] http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2008/09/the_allure_of_the_onestop_shop.html http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_exa...