New Study Reveals Emergency Utilization Increasing, With Higher Costs, But Uninsured Patients Are Not the Problem

OPEN MINDS On-Line News Strategic Health Care News In 2005, there were about 115 million emergency department visits; utilization appears to be increasing and costs rising, but uninsured patients are not the main cause. About 17% of the emergency department visits in 2005 were made by patients without health insurance. Of six common assumptions about uninsured individuals’ utilization of emergency departments, three were not clearly supported by current data, and the remaining three are true of all patients, with or without insurance. The following assumptions were not clearly supported following a review of studies and data: Uninsured patients present . . .