Quote:
Originally Posted by PiKA2001
I disagree
I think a lot of people realize that we are covering the uninsured and its because of that fact they wonder, "what's the point?". Why reconstruct the healthcare industry when something like opening up eligibility to Medicare would seem like a better solution to dealing with the uninsured. We also can't assume that people WILL take preventative care or see a primary care physician (do they still exist?) VS a hospital or an urgent care if they have any health issues. I'm insured, but I haven't been to an actual Dr.s office in YEARS, but I have been to the hospital/urgent care several times.
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Why do you do that? Probably because you are young and healthy. Many people who aren't insured would actually like to go to a regular doctor because they aren't so young and healthy and would actually benefit from preventative care. For a lot of problems, they get little help from the ER. High blood pressure, diabetes, etc are poorly controlled in an ER management setting, and the end result is renal failure needing dialysis, heart attacks, heart failure and strokes. Many of these people end up costing us more in disability payments when they can't work because they are completely decompensated by their congestive heart failure, etc. This is one example of why ER care is inappropriate for anything other than EMERGENCIES. It also prevents people who really need emergency care from getting prompt care if the waiting room is full of people who need a prescription refill or treatment for an ingrown toenail or a runny nose or a headache last week that went away after ten minutes (don't laugh, it happens.) These people get seen for 10x the cost of the same visit at a primary care physicians office (and yes, these guys still exist-- some of them are actually struggling to find patients in this economy.)