- Posted
- August 12, 2010
Study: ER visits by Medicaid enrollees doubled in past decade
A new study by researchers at the University of California San Francisco found that emergency room visits among adult Medicaid enrolless nearly doubled from 1997 to 2007 (Source: “UCSF study finds big jump in ER visits,” San Francisco Chronicle, Aug. 10, 2010).
ER visits nationally jumped from 94.9 million in 1997 to 116.8 million. While rates for the adult Medicaid population doubled during that time, rates for adults with private insurance or those on Medicare showed now significant change, according to the study, “Trends and Characteristics of US Emergency Department Visits, 1997-2007,” which was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
"There are many physicians who refuse to accept new patients with Medicaid," said Dr. Ning Tang,
assistant clinical professor at UCSF and lead author of the study. "This doubling in emergency department visits by adults with Medicaid suggests they might not have adequate access to outpatient care."
And that concern of the lack of primary care capacity is also at the heart of a recent American College of Emergency Physicians survey that found that 71 percent of emergency doctors expect ER visits to increase with the passage of national reform (Source: “Newly insured expected to crowd ERs,” Columbus Dispatch, Aug. 12, 2010).
"The reason is insurance is not equal to access," said Dr. Gary Katz, president of the Ohio chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians.
ER visits nationally jumped from 94.9 million in 1997 to 116.8 million. While rates for the adult Medicaid population doubled during that time, rates for adults with private insurance or those on Medicare showed now significant change, according to the study, “Trends and Characteristics of US Emergency Department Visits, 1997-2007,” which was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
"There are many physicians who refuse to accept new patients with Medicaid," said Dr. Ning Tang,
assistant clinical professor at UCSF and lead author of the study. "This doubling in emergency department visits by adults with Medicaid suggests they might not have adequate access to outpatient care."
And that concern of the lack of primary care capacity is also at the heart of a recent American College of Emergency Physicians survey that found that 71 percent of emergency doctors expect ER visits to increase with the passage of national reform (Source: “Newly insured expected to crowd ERs,” Columbus Dispatch, Aug. 12, 2010).
"The reason is insurance is not equal to access," said Dr. Gary Katz, president of the Ohio chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians.
