Urgent Care is almost always cheaper than a visit to the emergency room. You should generally choose to go to the emergency room if you are seriously injured, you have a life-threatening condition or are in great pain, or if advised to do so by your physician. Otherwise, you can choose an urgent care service provider and usually save both time and money. After your consult, the Urgent Care provider may elect to send you to an emergency room. But in most cases you will avoid the costs and inconvenience of an emergency room visit.
If you need medical treatment for an illness or injury, visit one of our many urgent care locations in San Diego! Our doctors are here to help with your primary care and urgent care needs!
Regardless of your current insurance situation, you should have a rough idea of how much emergency room care costs. If you are uninsured and need an ambulance to take you to the emergency room, you may need to pay significant money just for the ambulance ride. Therefore, unless an ambulance is necessary, you might consider taking a taxi or Uber to the hospital because it is generally cheaper. Once you are in the emergency room, the co-pay or co-insurance will be as provided under your plan for the visit. Additionally, you may have a deductible that needs to be met prior to your insurance being available. With numerous of today’s patients electing high deductible plans, knowing your deductible amount is very important when calculating your out of pocket costs.
Urgent Care costs may or may not be covered by your insurance. This is something you should confirm before choosing an Urgent Care. If covered by your plan, you may only be responsible for the copay or coinsurance. Again, you may have a deductible that needs to be met prior to your insurance being available. Irrespective of the outcome, unless your condition requires you to visit an emergency room, it is worth your time to research the potential savings of an Urgent Care visit as compared to an emergency room visit. We expect the savings to be meaningful.