Unpaid Visits to Emergency Room Could Hurt Credit Score

Doctors warned Friday that an unpaid visit to the emergency room could come back to bite you in the future.

Millions of Americans visit the ER every year, and health officials report that many of those patients are uninsured and use the ER for primary care, which doctors say is not the way to go.

The bill patients receive for ER visits are no different than that of a car note, or rent payment, according to health officials.

Hospitals are by law required to treat patients during emergency situations. But, if the hospital bill goes unpaid, there is a strong possibility that it could end up in collections, and end up hurting credit scores.

The emergency room is extremely expensive.

According to JFK Memorial, visiting a primary care doctor for a sore throat will cost between $200 and $300. But, a visit to the emergency room for the same condition will exceed $500, mainly because the ER costs more to operate.

Between JFK Memorial, Desert Regional Medical Center and Eisenhower Medical Center, more than 140,000 patients in the desert visited the ER last year.

“A couple of year ago, I went to Desert Regional to emergency, because I had pneumonia,” said Michael Kock, who recently declared bankruptcy, in part because of unpaid medical bills. “After two hours of treatment there and $3,600, I told them I couldn’t afford it, and they said that’s okay. . . you can make payments. [I said] I can’t afford it. So, I never did make a payment.”

JFK reports that last year more than 40,000 people visited their ER, and more than 20 percent of them were uninsured.

According to Desert Regional Medical Center, in 2009, the hospital provided more than $65 million in charity care, essentially medical services for people who could not make a payment for the services.

Doctors recommend waiting to see a primary care physician, if you are insured, or head over to a community clinic if you are uninsured. Most of them accept Medicare, Medi-Cal and Medicaid.