Now that 40 million uninsured people will now have access to healthcare, where will t

[Gina]

Link (http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002891553)
Now that 40 million uninsured people will now have access to healthcare, where will they go to get it?
Egalitariat (1,546 posts)

Now that 40 million uninsured people will now have access to healthcare, where will they go to get it?

I've heard the argument that ERs will be freed up to focus on emergencies, because it will no longer be the primary care outlet for the uninsured, and that makes sense to me.

But every time I go to my primary care physician, it doesn't seem to me like there is a lot of spare capacity waiting on new demand to be created. Which is what the ACA will do.

I know this had to be contemplated and accounted for, but I haven't seen any meaningful analysis of the changing supply and demand dynamics that will come from the ACA.
There's 96 replies, I went through about half. Fact is, the DUmmies can't answer the question with anything workable. I stopped half way through because I got bored. :biggrin-new:

[Hubie]

I've heard the argument that ERs will be freed up to focus on emergencies, because it will no longer be the primary care outlet for the uninsured, and that makes sense to me.

Huh? If you're uninsured and go to the ER for some minor, non-emergency issue, they kick you out, don't they? I've never had to do that, so I don't know. Maybe I could ask the two nurses on my wife's side of the family (one of whom is an ER nurse).

[Adam Wood]

Huh? If you're uninsured and go to the ER for some minor, non-emergency issue, they kick you out, don't they? I've never had to do that, so I don't know. Maybe I could ask the two nurses on my wife's side of the family (one of whom is an ER nurse).Technically, they cannot turn you away if you go there seeking treatment. So even if you turn up with a paper cut, they have to give you a band-aid if you ask for it. BUT, they get to triage you accordingly, so the guy who looks like the Black Knight from the Monty Python movie gets priority, as does just about everyone else on the planet who comes in.

Something that the howler monkeys constantly ignore: this applies to all doctor's offices. If you break your leg in front of a plastic surgeon's office, they, too, have to provide you whatever care they are equipped to provide and provide you appropriate transportation if they cannot treat the issue. The reason people tend to focus on ERs is that your typical plastic surgeon or dentist isn't open 24 hours a day.

[RobJohnson]

Our nation has a shortage of doctors.

Especially in rural areas.

Insurance companies started buying up doctor's offices as a way to get ready for Obamacare. Each doctor has a limit on the patients they can see and the rest are refered to Urgent Care. (Which often has higher copays as it costs more) If I have a short term illness or something goes wrong like when my appendix was causing me pain, my PCP doctor was booked for two weeks and I went to urgent care, then to the local hospital, then to a hospital in Las Vegas...It was ten hours before I was in a hospital room in Vegas...

If I go to the ER I am charged an extra $150. So if Urgent Care if closed (after 8 pm) I can suffer or pay the money...but the ER is usually pretty busy treating stuffy noses for people on medicaid.