STATEWIDE -- After hearing thousands of complaints from Texans, state lawmakers cracked down on freestanding emergency rooms.

Those are ERs that are not connected to hospitals. They're often found in shopping centers and look a lot like an urgent care centers. 

"They look and feel a lot like urgent care centers or doc in a box facilities, but there is a big difference," said Jessica Sandlin with the Texas Association of Health Plans. "They are (often) not in-network, so they can set that price at any level they basically want to."

As of Sept. 1, these locations are required to tell patients - both online and in-person - if their insurance provider considers them in-network before admitting the patient.

"What we are really focused on is those instances where consumers are being misled--cleaning up that confusion," AARP Texas' Blake Hutson said.

MORE | How to file a complaint

Sandlin said the most common treatments at freestanding ERs are fevers, sore throats and coughs.

"At a freestanding ER, you can pay $3,000 to have a cough treated," she said. "At an urgent care, that same treatment could be about $180."

Starting Jan. 1, patients will be able to file complaints with the Texas Department of Insurance to have their bills reduced. That law allows freestanding ER patients to enter mediation.