Back in April, afraid my appendix had burst, I went to urgent care. After waiting three hours, the doctor completed a minimal exam. He prodded around my appendix, told me something seemed wrong but in order to test for appendicitis, I would have to transfer and spend the night in the emergency room. 

It was 9:00 p.m., much later than I had anticipated staying, and worried that an ER visit would cost thousands, I left with no more answers than when I arrived. 

Luckily, my appendix turned out fine but the pain of paying an urgent care bill stuck. I was appalled that a five-minute visit with the doctor racked up hundreds of dollars before insurance, despite receiving no tests, no diagnoses and no real answers. 

I was willing to chalk it up to one bad visit to urgent care but when I went to a different clinic a few months later, I had the same experience. I’d been sick with a lingering cold and was worried that I had contracted a long-term virus. I had taken a few at-home COVID-19 tests, all of which were negative. 

Still the clinic only tested for COVID-19 and the flu. When both came back negative, they sent me home, telling me they weren’t sure what I had but I should expect a bill regardless. 

Yet it wasn’t until a few weeks ago when a friend told me a nearly identical story about her visit to an urgent care clinic that I felt like a pattern was forming. 

Urgent care clinics are a relatively new but rapidly growing form of medical treatment. Between 2014 to 2023, the number of clinics in the United States increased by almost 100% and more than a quarter of Americans reported that they visited an urgent care within the past year. 

The primary appeal of urgent care is the price. If I had gone to the ER for either of my medical issues, my pre-insurance bill would have been in the thousands, rather than the hundreds. It’s understandable why so many people are favoring urgent care centers instead. 

But urgent care clinics are limited in the treatments they can provide and services vary widely depending on the location. Some will perform EKG or blood tests while others just shrug and send you home. It can be hard to know which kind of care you will be getting but either way, you’re expected to foot the bill.