Quantum Windbag
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- May 9, 2010
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I could have sworn this was one of the big selling points for this abomination.
Health overhaul may mean longer ER waits, crowding - Yahoo! News
That might come as a surprise to those who thought getting 32 million more people covered by health insurance would ease ER crowding. It would seem these patients would be able to get routine health care by visiting a doctor's office, as most of the insured do.
But it's not that simple. Consider:
_There's already a shortage of front-line family physicians in some places and experts think that will get worse.
_People without insurance aren't the ones filling up the nation's emergency rooms. Far from it. The uninsured are no more likely to use ERs than people with private insurance, perhaps because they're wary of huge bills.
_The biggest users of emergency rooms by far are Medicaid recipients. And the new health insurance law will increase their ranks by about 16 million. Medicaid is the state and federal program for low-income families and the disabled. And many family doctors limit the number of Medicaid patients they take because of low government reimbursements.
_ERs are already crowded and hospitals are just now finding solutions.
Health overhaul may mean longer ER waits, crowding - Yahoo! News