She Needed an EpiPen. But First, an Urgent Care Asked Her To Pay.

Stephanie Rowell was standing on her parents’ front porch in July when a wasp stung her left arm. She said that almost immediately her arm felt like it was “on fire,” her body started itching all over, and her face became swollen and red. Rowell, 53, took Benadryl, and her father started driving her to the nearest emergency room, about 25 minutes away. But after driving for 10 minutes they spotted a TruHealthNow urgent care facility in Purcellville, Virginia, and decided to stop, hoping she would get help faster. “I thought I was going to die,” she said, recalling that she felt her throat tighten and found it harder to breathe. Rowell, a manager at an agritourism business who lives in Round Hill, Virginia, has been uninsured since 2025, when she said she could no longer afford to buy coverage on her own. After she checked in and disclosed that she did not have health insurance, Rowell said, a nurse practitioner saw her in an exam room and quickly diagnosed anaphylaxis, a severe and potentially life-threatening allergic reaction. She said the nurse practitioner advised her that she needed a shot of epinephrine to reverse her symptoms. Then the bill came, via a medical assistant. “Th...