Health coverage fails to fix ER load, doctor shortage

Contrary to expectations, physicians report seeing a surge in patients at emergency rooms since Obamacare took effect.

Before the Affordable Care Act (ACA), uninsured people went to the ER, and the cost was passed on to the rest. The difference now is that people have insurance but can’t find doctors, so they go to the ER.

Arthur Hamlin

Primary care physicians have been getting squeezed by managed care for decades. They don’t want to take additional losses by accepting patients covered by ACA junk plans.

Mira Worth

Doctors aren’t required to accept Medicaid under Obamacare, so nothing has changed.

Michael Bassett

Primary care physicians’ office hours are usually limited, per-

ER VISITS RISE Emergency room physicians say that since Jan. 1, 2014, the volume of patients coming to their ER departments has: haps four days a week from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. That’s not practical for low-income workers with two or three jobs. Standalone, 24/7 walk-in clinics, at a lower cost than ERs, would help.

Brenda Badgero

We asked our followers what can be done to reduce pressure on emergency rooms. More health literacy is needed. If patients understand their care, they are less likely to follow up at the ER.

@hellafrais

We need to have more neighborhood urgent care centers in larger cities and make greater use of physician assistants.

@MOVEprofPHD

Emergency rooms are primary care in the eyes of many. They wrongly see the emergency room as a faster path for care.

@COT1TK

Long before Obamacare there was a culture in place where families go to the ER for minor ailments. It’s time to re-educate the public.

@kim_callan

I won’t say a bad word about the Affordable Care Act. But isn’t this about health education and people not knowing where to go?

@davidessexfl

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