Texas ERs and elsewhere levy fees for some care

The fees are meant to discourage people suffering from nothing worse, say, than a sore throat or a skinned knee from taking up time and resources better reserved for the seriously ill. Both for-profit and non-profit hospitals are levying the charge. Critics of ER fees include the American College of Emergency Physicians, which says that 2 to 7 percent of patients determined to have nonemergency conditions are admitted to a hospital within 24 hours.