As for the physicians and pricing - I have some sympathy there. First, I'm happy that they are not making medical decisions based on overall price but instead b

As for the physicians and pricing - I have some sympathy there. First, I'm happy that they are not making medical decisions based on overall price but instead based on risk. This seems to be the best way to treat me the patient and not me the line item. That said, they also have to deal with liability (especially in an ER) so they have to treat any POSSIBLE thing that you might have before you leave since people often arrive with zero medical history and they have to rule out side effect things that may not be an issue. Further, the fact that their physicians often deal with advanced specialities and/or emergency medicine means you're paying for a specialty for something that could be simple. I try to stay out of ERs unless I'm worried about my life and instead use urgent care / clinic visits when my GP is not available. Their billing seems to be much more consistent, anyway, and there's less risk a physician won't be covered by your insurance just happening to stop by.