This would be easily remedied by charging everyone the $290, and giving a credit to the pensioners after actual medical treatment.

We had a woman on welfare living in a hotel (for free) who after blowing all her money on wasteful stuff would get hungry and call 911 in the morning so she would get to the hospital just in time for breakfast in the ER. And of course our wonderful "system" also provides cab fare home once she's done.

We called her "The Breakfast Run"...and it went on for months until she called 911 for "Difficulty Breathing" and she was smoking a cigarette at the curb when the first responder (a cop) got there. He reamed her out and canceled the rig and we never heard from her again.

Some people know how to play the system and have no regards for the others they inconvenience. We would have never done what that cop did and he was risking his badge telling somebody they "don't need medical assistance"...but he was a decent guy and felt bad wasting our (volunteer EMTs) time on this waste of human existance.