Uninsured woman charged $700 for waiting in an Atlanta emergency room without care

Taylor Davis waited seven hours with a head injury and left Emory Decatur hospital untreated

A Georgian woman was billed almost US$700 after waiting seven hours in an Atlanta emergency room, and leaving the hospital untreated.

Taylor Davis had initially gone to the Emory Decatur hospital earlier this year to get a head injury treated, but after receiving little to no care, she decided to return home.

“I didn’t get my vitals taken, nobody called my name. I wasn’t seen at all,” Davis told Fox 5 Atlanta. “I sat there for seven hours. There’s no way I should be sitting in an emergency room.. an emergency room for seven hours.”

Weeks later, she received a bill in the mail and thought it was a mistake.

“So I called them and she said it’s hospital protocol even if you’re just walking in and you’re not seen. When you type in your social (insurance number), that’s it. You’re going to get charged regardless,” she said.

She was informed by the hospital that she was sent a bill for what is called an emergency room visit fee, an invoice that is often overshadowed by other more costly hospital bills.

After her complaint, an email was sent to Davis by the hospital’s patient financial services department stating, “You get charged before you are seen. Not for being seen.”

Said Davis: “I’m very reluctant to go to the hospital now. That’s kind of like the last resort now. Seeing that they’re able to bill you for random things, it doesn’t make me want to go. So that’s not good.”