It's middle-class folks with health insurance, according to a new study. From the Baltimore Sun:

Who is jamming up these emergency departments? Listen to the political rhetoric and you'll hear it's all those uninsured - 47 million and counting. But a new study - and conversations with experts in the field - suggests uninsured patients nationally make up a small portion of those who use the emergency room for their medical problems, big and small. It's just 15 percent, according to a recent study.

The fastest-growing group of ER users turns out to be middle-class patients with insurance, people who usually get their health care from primary care physicians. Their share of visits jumped from 52.4 percent in the late 1990s to 59 percent in 2003-2004, according to a recent study in the Annals of Emergency Medicine.

"We felt there would be much more political will behind solving the emergency room crowding problem if everyone understood that ... [the increase is] not poor, homeless and uninsured. These are mainstream Americans," said Dr. Ellen J. Weber, an emergency room physician at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center and lead author of the study. "It's eventually going to affect you."

Comments

There are no comments for this entry yet. Get the discussion started and post below.

Post a comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Not a member yet? Registration is easy and takes just a minute.

Can’t remember your password? Have a password reminder emailed to you.