<prompt> Human: So, I went to the E.R. a few weeks ago and it turn out to be a huge mistake. I had injured a shoulder a few years ago, I thought I had re-injured out - turned out to just be a strain.I spent 5 minutes filling out forms and getting my blood pressure taken, 2.5 hours waiting, and 2 minutes with a doctor. Doctor took a quick look at me and said to ice it and take the day off, come back if it still hurts in a few days.The hospital sent me a bill for over 1500 dollars. There were no tests done on me, no samples taken no equipment used or anything like that. The doctor billed me 300 separately, hell get his money - but the hospital wants 1500 for essentially 5 minutes of clerical work and allowing me to sit in their empty waiting room.Im not trying to be a whiner here, I know the hospital has its operating costs but this is outrageous. Altogether I may have taken up less than 10 minutes of the hospital staffs time. I honestly dont want to pay more than 10-20 of this bill, is that even possible? How screwed am I? Ive negotiated with debt collectors before but never a hospital. If I broke it down to them like that I could get a deep discountforgiveness?  <response>: Do you have insurance?The people I know without insurance that get big hospital bills usually get something around 30-40 off the original bill. This is a small sample size though. Your results may vary. Hospitals are almost always willing to set up a payment plan.but the hospital wants 1500 for essentially 5 minutes of clerical work and allowing me to sit in their empty waiting room. The hospital is charging you 1500 not for the 5 minutes, but because they need to have doctors, equipment, supplies, and other staff available for any kind of emergency. They must do this with the understanding that the biggest users of the ER do not have insurance and will never pay. 