Unfortunately, at least in some regions, there is no other place to receive urgent (but non-emergency) care. Waiting a week or more for a doctor's appointment i

Unfortunately, at least in some regions, there is no other place to receive urgent (but non-emergency) care. Waiting a week or more for a doctor's appointment isn't going to cut it if you've broken your arm or if you've been bitten by a possibly rabid animal, and so you're stuck waiting all day or all night in the ER. It was a revelation to me when I moved from the US to Australia. Not only do I not have to pay for insurance, but it's so much easier to receive non-emergency urgent care as well. I can typically book a doctor's appointment for the next day (there are no insurance networks to worry about, so I have my pick of doctors), or if I need care sooner than that, my local ER usually has a wait time of under 30 minutes even for super minor treatment, like removing a sliver of glass from my foot (the high availability of doctors means the local is pretty quiet).