He went to a clinic, while you, me and he may all agree it fits the definition of an emergency, he didn't go to the ER.
Getting emergency care:
In an emergency, you should get care from the closest hospital that can help you. That hospital will treat you regardless of whether you have insurance. Your insurance company can't charge you more for getting emergency room services at an out-of-network hospital.
For something fairly simple like a cast, that can still end up more expensive than the clinic option though, depending on your insurance. ER co-pays and co-insurance can be pretty high. For example, a typical ACA/Obamacare "Silver" level plan in my area has 20-40% co-insurance on an ER visit (until the $5k-10k annual out-of-pocket max), which can easily be more than whatever you'd end up paying for the non-ER option to set a broken arm.
Getting emergency care: In an emergency, you should get care from the closest hospital that can help you. That hospital will treat you regardless of whether you have insurance. Your insurance company can't charge you more for getting emergency room services at an out-of-network hospital.
https://www.healthcare.gov/using-marketplace-coverage/gettin...