Venkatesh Rao

at an urgent care for a sore throat (not covid), thinking about how close i was to accidentally visiting “the wrong kind of urgent care” and how the reality of our form of “post whatever capitalism” is actually a byzantine maze of money gotchas

the first urgent care clinic i went to was out of appointments for the day; the woman behind the counter nonchalantly suggested i visit the “emergency room clinic” up the street. she wouldn’t look me in the eyes as she said it

for those of you who are as naive as i am about these things, apparently there are two forms of “urgent care” clinics. one version is an “emergency room” and bills you emergency room prices. the other is more “clinic” than “emergency room” and charges doctor visit prices

they’re usually pretty upfront with this labeling distinction. my friend who suggested i go to one said not to give them my health insurance so that i dont end up with a surprise “emergency room” sized bill. for a sore throat.

so much nuance! such a huge difference in cost! for arguably similar service!