> It’s terrible for a hospital’s business to have their ER clogged by people who don’t have emergencies and can’t pay.
It is already a big enough problem they don't seem to care. Hospitals in less affluent areas are getting interest free loans from the state to keep emergency care from bankrupting them: https://calmatters.org/health/2023/08/california-hospitals-b...
> So they aren’t going to deny people primary care because doing so will just cause them to wind up in the ER.
You seem to be confused that I am speaking to some hypothetical future situation. Hospital networks require you to either pay outstanding balances or meet with someone to arrange a payment plan before you can be seen. Taking away the ability to report to credit is only going to make them more aggressive in this practice.