E.R. Car

The term "E.R. Car" is used to illustrate how much money a trip to a local hospital emergency room (local E.R.) will cost. So if the typical price of a car runs anywhere from $5,000 to $20,000 for a used car, and then anywhere from $30, 000 to $70,000 for a new car, then it is not unreasonable, in today's American healthcare environment, to equate the price of one car to the cost of one emergency room visit.

A similar term is "E.R. House," used to describe the cost of emergency room care for a truly catastrophic medical situation where the price of just one emergency room visit equates to the price of a buying a house.

"I got taken to the emergency room in an ambulance, and after all the x-Rays, all the blood work, all the CT scans and after consulting with four different specialists, the emergency room sent me home and then billed me for over $45,000. That was my first ever E.R. Car in my whole life, and I hope it was my last."