[Loovikeillilen]

It's not the lack of insurance, but rather they're not paying for their insurance/care, so therefore they don't give a damn about the cost of going to the ED as opposed to a regular doctor.

EDIT: BTW - My wife, the Dr, can verify this... It's not like I'm taking a stab in the dark.

I must be missing something here. If they're not paying for insurance, then they don't have it?

Having said that, I turned up at the ED once because upon calling my doctor (or at least her admin staff) I was told, sure she can see me, three weeks on Thursday, as long as it was between 9:15am and 10:00am... so I went to the local hospital. Turned out I had an eye infection that three weeks later could have been a serious problem.

Oh, and I have insurance - really great insurance. It's just my GP is highly sought after.

[HenriRow]

I must be missing something here. If they're not paying for insurance, then they don't have it?

Having said that, I turned up at the ED once because upon calling my doctor (or at least her admin staff) I was told, sure she can see me, three weeks on Thursday, as long as it was between 9:15am and 10:00am... so I went to the local hospital. Turned out I had an eye infection that three weeks later could have been a serious problem.

Oh, and I have insurance - really great insurance. It's just my GP is highly sought after.

If you NEED to speak with your doctor, ask for him/her to call you back.

If you can't get a call back from your doctor (or whoever is covering for him/her) within 24 hours, you should probably change doctors. Now your GP may actually tell you to go to the ED, but at least it won't be because there was nowhere else to go, but rather because your GP thought you needed urgent medical attention in a hospital setting.

[Loovikeillilen]

If you NEED to speak with your doctor, ask for him/her to call you back.

If you can't get a call back from your doctor (or whoever is covering for him/her) within 24 hours, you should probably change doctors. Now your GP may actually tell you to go to the ED, but at least it won't be because there was nowhere else to go, but rather because your GP thought you needed urgent medical attention in a hospital setting.

And that's exactly what I'd do now - 2 months into your stay in a new country though, you're reliant upon those admins... who, almost without exception, are awful everywhere when it comes to medical issues.