The Annals of Emergency Medicine did a study earlier this year showing that much of the overcrowding is due to insured patients. JAMA recently re-iterated the findings. Newsweek interviews the lead author, who cites a lack of primary care access as a major culprit.
Politicians are focused on the uninsured, but it won’t help with ED congestion. If anything, it will make things worse:
Providing insurance to more people will help with overall health. It may help the currently uninsured find a primary care provider. But it is not going to help with ER overcrowding, because the primary care doctors are still going to be overbooked.
