Urgent care tends to be a low-cost option that benefits people with and without insurance. When compared to the emergency room, urgent care is much more affordable. Many factors can affect the cost of a visit to urgent care, but not having insurance does not make as much of a difference as one may expect.
What is urgent care?
Urgent care is ideal for any illness or injury that needs care within the next 24 hours. These illnesses and injuries are different from emergencies but still need to be looked at quickly.
If you face a sudden life-threatening emergency, visiting an emergency room (ER) would be best. These emergencies include heart attacks and other serious events. For anything less severe, urgent care tends to be a better option. The treatment available at urgent care can help with many injuries and illnesses.
Urgent care centers have grown even more popular over the past few decades. Today there are more than 9,000 facilities in the United States. As demand increases, more centers open every year.
According to Physician One, while some urgent care centers are affiliated with hospitals, many are separate. Urgent care facilities that are separate from hospitals are often independently owned and operated. Either way, urgent care facilities pride themselves on offering high-quality care. The staff at hospitals and urgent care centers receive the same training.
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When should you use urgent care?
If someone needs to receive care for an acute illness or injury, it is likely time to visit an urgent care facility. These illnesses and injuries need to be cared for quickly but do not qualify as medical emergencies.
According to Mount Sinai, conditions that are treatable at urgent care include:
- Accidents and falls
- Cuts with little blood but require stitches
- Breathing difficulties (such as mild to moderate asthma)
- Diagnostic services (X-rays and laboratory tests)
- Eye irritation and redness
- Fever
- Flu
- Sprains and strains
- Urinary tract infections
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Dehydration
- Minor broken bones
- Fractures in fingers or toes
- Moderate back problems
- Severe sore throat or cough
- Skin rashes and infections
According to Mira, urgent care can usually provide the following lab tests:
- Blood tests
- Electrolyte testing
- STD tests
- Pregnancy tests
- Urinalysis
- Drug tests and screenings
- Fecal blood occult
- Flu tests
- Strep tests
One might also visit urgent care to receive vaccinations and flu shots. If you do not have a primary care provider, urgent care centers can take care of annual physicals, school physicals, or sports physicals as well.
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How much does urgent care cost?
If you are concerned that a visit to urgent care will be more expensive than going to the ER, you are mistaken. The treatment cost at urgent care centers is cheaper than treatment received at hospitals. That does not mean the care you receive will be of lower quality, but it will just cost you much less. That is true whether or not you have insurance.
While visiting an emergency room can run you a bill in the thousands, urgent care is typically a few hundred. According to Debt.org, the average urgent care visit is between $100 and $150.
A handy table on Debt.org compares the cost of services when going to an emergency room vs. an urgent care center. For example, a urinary tract infection taken care of at the emergency room will cost around $665, compared to the $112 you would owe if you went to an urgent care center instead.
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Does insurance help pay for urgent care?
Those with insurance may not benefit much more than those without insurance when visiting an urgent care facility. The Affordable Care Act requires emergency services coverage by most health insurance plans. Unfortunately, an urgent care visit is not always considered an emergency in their eyes.
When you go to a hospital, it is assumed you are dealing with an emergency. When you go to urgent care, insurance companies may decide your visit was not an emergency. In this situation, those with insurance might be in the same position as those without insurance.
If insurance does cover the visit, patients still have to pay the necessary copay or deductible. According to Solv, those with insurance typically have a copay of $35 to $75 for a visit to urgent care.
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How much does urgent care cost without insurance?
Thankfully, you can visit an urgent care center if you do not have insurance. It may cost slightly more, but it should not cost too much. You are expected to pay for your urgent care visit out of pocket if you do not have insurance. This cost will still be in the $100 to $200 range. This can be higher in more serious cases. These may require medication and additional care.
Mira outlined the following information from eHealth in the table seen below. This should allow you to get a good idea of what you will be expected to pay. Keep in mind other factors come into play, but the average cost for services at urgent care are:
| Service | Price without insurance |
| Allergies | $97 |
| Acute Bronchitis | $127 |
| Earaches | $110 |
| Sore Throat | $94 |
| Pink Eye | $102 |
| Sinusitis | $112 |
| Urinary Tract Infections | $112 |
| Upper Respiratory Infections | $111 |
Factors that affect the cost of urgent care include:
- Where you live
- Location of the urgent care center
- The severity of the issue
- Whether or not you require an X-ray
- The cost of the initial office visit
- Medicine
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How to help with the cost of urgent care without insurance?
There are a few ways to lessen the cost of urgent care. In addition to asking about payment plan options, consider the following:
- Compare costs at urgent care centers near you: While many urgent care centers have similar pricing, it does not hurt to call around. With a few phone calls, you should be able to find out which urgent care center is the cheapest in your area. Shopping around is a great way to navigate the cost of urgent care.
- Communicate your financial situation with the urgent care center before receiving care: Some urgent care centers will be willing to work with you to help with any financial burden they can. Other centers will be unwilling to negotiate with you, so make sure you choose one that understands your situation and wants to help.
- Research rates online before your visit: Websites like Healthcare Bluebook estimate the cost of your potential visit depending on the services you require. On these websites, you can specify that you will be paying out of pocket, and they can provide you with information that can help you know what to expect going into urgent care without insurance.
Beyond urgent care, there are other affordable options out there as well. You might consider visiting the MinuteClinic instead. According to the 2018 Benchmark Report, the MinuteClinic provides more than 125 services with rates 40% less than the average cost of urgent care. You can view the pricing list here.
If you need to visit an urgent care center, try not to hold yourself back from doing so because of cost. Sure, some conditions go away on their own, but you never know. It is best to be safe rather than sorry.
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