Same service? Remember, your kid. And it's not just the service; you could go to the urgent care clinic instead of the hospital[1] and pay less; you could go to

Same service? Remember, your kid. And it's not just the service; you could go to the urgent care clinic instead of the hospital[1] and pay less; you could go to your regular doctor and pay even less; heck, I know people who just keep sutures & glue on hand and just patch the kid up themselves. There's also the matter of demand & supply: are you confident you'll get immediate treatment if needed? that an ER staff is on hand if that small cut suddenly proves itself a skull fracture and whatever unseen complications ensue? I'm not going to argue that the pricing is perfect; I am going to argue that there's a whole lot more behind that price than just overcharging. I've looked both my kids in the eyes while holding them still while being stitched up for one injury or another, thought thru a range of what-ifs, and had no problem paying the bill knowing there was more to it than just a little sewing. When both the doctor and urgent care clinic take one look at the injury and say "not here, she needs a hospital for this" and pass on billable treatment, there's a reason. [1] - seems different cultures have different notions of what the term "hospital" entails. Methinks this confuses the discussion a great deal.