Seriously, sniffles and colds are best treated at home with bed rest and plenty of fluids. Second best with over the counter symptom relief if you need to work through it.
Flu shots are cheap and readily available.
And it's not automatically people without insurance. Most people here have some kind of coverage, including Mainecare if they're not insured.
You go to a hospital or to the doctor's office and you are exposing yourself to every bug everybody who has been in there is carrying, and exposing them to your bugs.
People in this country are waaaaaay too dependent on going to the doctor for every minor freakin' issue. They need to learn to take care of themselves with an appropriate diet, appropriate exercise and sufficient rest.
That also means using common sense and being aware of changes in your region's environment. We recently had a mother and son in with bloody stool. The doctor was testing for c-dif. Mother stopped by the lab to ask questions and while chatting, told us she'd been camping with her son and giving him survivalist training. I asked if they'd drunk from a stream as part of his "training." "Oh, yeah!" she nodded, smiling and enthusiastic. Lab partner and I looked at each other and blurted out "Giardia" in unison. 
It's now endemic here.
If they catch a cold, treat it at home. Doctor's offices are for treating things that aren't resolving at home, not running up bills for every headache, sniffly nose or 24 hour stomach bug.
Not to mention the rash of young, female syncope victims we had one night.
The ED treats each one as if it's a life threatening emergency because that's more revenue. It's also, ultimately, a huge cost on society.
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