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Supporters of the healthcare reform legislation passed by Congress claim it will reduce emergency room visits by providing nearly all Americans with the insurance they can use to see a primary care physician.
A new poll says otherwise:
The survey by the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) found that 97 percent of doctors every day treat Medicaid patients in their emergency departments because the patients could not find a doctor willing to treat them for the fee Medicaid would pay.
If Obamacare provides insurance that reimburses physicians at Medicaid rates, visits to the ER will likely increase, according to ACEP.
In fact, 89 percent of doctors polled said they believe ER visits will increase under Obamacare.
Hundreds of emergency rooms across the country have been forced to shut down due to financial concerns, increasing the workload at those remaining open, and the healthcare reform law fails to address this issue.
Nearly half of the physicians surveyed in ACEP’s poll said fear of lawsuits is the biggest challenge to cutting costs in emergency rooms, and 53 percent said their fear of lawsuits was the main reason for ordering many of the tests they perform.
Sent to me in an e-mail, without a link.
Anyone got the shinny on this claim?
Ok, now pay attention.
The reason the healthcare law hasn't done anything for healthcare, the use of ER's, etc is because it hasn't come into effect yet.
Most of the provisions that have potential to lower healthcare costs, decrease ER visits, etc will not go into effect until 2014.
And do you know who to blame for all of the current ER visits? Its not President Obama, its President Reagan. He destroyed our healthcare system with the emergency medical care act of 1986. It forced hospitals to care for anyone who walked through their doors, but set up no way to pay for it. That set about a runaway situation with costs, and insurance price increases.
Health insurance providers and others fought for the 2014 date, because they feel that people will grow tired of not seeing any benefits before that date arrives, thinking that the law will do nothing. You are helping them with this thread.
The reason the healthcare law hasn't done anything for healthcare, the use of ER's, etc is because it hasn't come into effect yet.
Most of the provisions that have potential to lower healthcare costs, decrease ER visits, etc will not go into effect until 2014.
Hahahaha, please point out what provisions in the legislation have the ability to do what you are purporting. That's one of the biggest complaints of Obamacare, the fact that it did NOTHING to address the rising costs. All it did was expand eligibility of people to obtain insurance, but with physicians limiting the numbers of Medicaid patients they are willing to see, no problems will be solved.
Did you read the survey??
Quote:
At the same time, 97 percent of emergency physicians also report treating Medicaid patients on a daily basis who could not find any other doctor to accept their health insurance. If the new health care reform legislation provides insurance coverage that reimburses doctors at Medicaid rates, this could exacerbate a lack of access to medical care.
While 79 percent of responding emergency physicians said their emergency departments use resources efficiently, nearly half of respondents (44 percent) said the fear of lawsuits was the biggest challenge to cutting emergency department costs. More than half (53 percent) of emergency physicians reported that fear of lawsuits is the main reason for ordering the number of tests they do.
“Emergency visits have increased at twice the rate of the U.S. population, and less than 8 percent of those patients have nonurgent medical conditions, meaning the vast majority need to be there, said Dr. Schneider. “At the same time, hundreds of emergency departments have closed. The new health care reform law does not address these problems and with the elderly population and more emergency departments forced to shut down, this crisis will only get worse.
The health care reform act did not contain anything to address increasing access to health care or the supply of physicians to provide care for 50 million more 'insured' patients. So all these people with a 2000+ page stack of papers saying they suddenly have health care - all they'll have in the end is a 2000+ page stack of paper.
I suppose in the winter you could crinkle up the pages and stuff em in your clothes to stay warm or burn 'em. Maybe use them as bandages? Roll up a bunch of them and tie them around broken limbs as splints? How about toilet paper?
Hahahaha, please point out what provisions in the legislation have the ability to do what you are purporting. That's one of the biggest complaints of Obamacare, the fact that it did NOTHING to address the rising costs. All it did was expand eligibility of people to obtain insurance, but with physicians limiting the numbers of Medicaid patients they are willing to see, no problems will be solved.
Did you read the survey??
Its the insurance mandate.
To know why the healthcare prices have increased is the only way to know why the mandate should work for that.
I've posted this many times, and I know you've read it, but I'll post it again for everyone else.
In 1986, Reagan signed into law a mandate that all ER's in the country must take anyone who comes through their door, regardless of their ability to pay.
After the law was passed, those who couldn't pay went to ER's and received treatment for flu, broken arms, stitches, etc. But how does the ER and hospital make up for the mandate and the loss of pay, supplies, income for the free treatment? They decided to start charging more to those who have insurance, or conducting excess procedures to make more money to make up the difference. This caused insurance rates to increase for everyone who had insurance, and caused some to drop off the health insurance roles.
This made more people go to the ER for more free treatment, which caused more increases in the cost for the insured, which caused more people to drop off the role, which caused more people to go to the ER for free treatment....
And you see how the trend continues.
Now with a mandate, EVERYONE in the country will have insurance. That should stop hospitals from doing needless procedures and to stop the cycle that Reagan started.
You may not like "obamacare", but it is simply paying for a Republican Presidents socialist program from 1986.
ER's are filled to the brim pretty much around the clock from coast to coast, it's not just seniors, but people from all walks of life abusing the system to get care for a common cold or a stomach ache as they have no where else to go, costing the taxpayer incredible amounts. This is one of the main reasons for the Obama health care plan, and why we need to have universal care so these people can get basic services at a primary care doctor like they should, not abusing ER's on the taxpayer's back.
Obamacare is going to do NOTHING about medicaid and medicare to empty out those ERs
And what is going to make that regular family doctor accept medicaid when they don't do it today ?
Its not medicaid, its private insurance.
Everyone, in 2014, is mandated to have private insurance or employer based insurance.
Thats accepted by family doctors all over the country. 70 to 80% of Americans under the age of medicare will have mandated private insurance in 2014.
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