Fighting the ER or the employee? Sounds like it could have been handled at a PCP or urgent care or with a bandage at home? Staffing a full trauma center is expensive, it should cost a lot to use it.

Fighting the ER. The employee screwed up and did not go to the urgent care per policy for minor cuts. Still, it’s bad optics to fight an employee.

It’s bad optics to employ someone who doesn’t know what emergency means.

The system should not be that complex and full of traps. I rarely go to a doctor and when I have to go every few years I have no idea how things work and what to avoid.

It's not.

ER - life or death (if you can drive yourself, it's probably not an emergency)

Urgent Care - you have the flu, and your PCP isn't available; minor emergencies (but you can still drive yourself)

PCP - flu, check-ups, whatever

The balance billing and OON charges are separate issues from over-use of the ER.

Your simplistic description shows that you don't even know what you're talking about! The ER is for far more than life or death. A broken bone -- no matter how minor -- is a perfectly reasonable reason to visit the ER. Urgent care may work just as well, but there are many reasons why urgent care might not be a great option for people in their circumstances.

ER is definitely not appropriate for a small cut requiring only a band-aid.

Sure. I never said otherwise. There’s obviously some judgement, and some areas won’t have an option. Bit to claim it’s too confusing to figure out (as the prior post suggested) is completely hyperbolic as well.

If the system was honest, then the ER would send people to the right place instead of charging them an arm and a leg for basically nothing.

you're assuming that the employee had an urgent care center open available to them.

No assumption. The employee had several.

Lol true.