“Emergency rooms have been great for the country in providing emergency care, but obviously most of us aren’t dealing with true emergencies on a daily basis,” said Dr. Jon L. Belsher, chief medical officer for MedSpring Urgent Care clinics, based in Texas.

In a state with six million uninsured residents, unpaid ER bills contribute to the $5 billion in uncompensated costs, the Texas Hospital Association estimates hospitals are left with each year. Hawkins said this legal responsibility was a financial liability for hospitals struggling with low reimbursement rates from the government on top of uncompensated care costs.

There are more than 450 hospitals in Texas. The Urgent Care Association of America said 435 urgent care facilities are in Texas.

The increased competition comes at a time when hospitals face additional cuts under the Affordable Care Act.

In an attempt to finance an expansion of Medicaid under the health reform law, the federal government is reducing payments to hospitals for uncompensated care. But Texas declined to expand Medicaid to provide health insurance for poor adults, leaving hospitals in the state with less money to serve virtually the same uninsured population.

The state Legislature decided last year to help cover uncompensated care by fully financing a pool of Medicaid payments in the state’s 2014-15 budget to reimburse health care providers for care provided to uninsured and Medicaid patients. But Texas hospitals argue that they are seeing little long-term relief because urgent care clinics are attracting an increasing number of insured patients who would have gone to hospitals.
http://www.texastribune.org/2014/08/...s-worry-hospi/

My guess is that this is causing the big ERs to suck your insurance dry by running every test they can even remotely justify when you come in.