Friday, May 21, 2010

Another Meme Bites the Dust

One of the favorite arguments espoused by the promoters of ObamaCare© is that, under our current system, uninsured folks are forced to use the ER as their primary means of care. Under the new regime, it's been argued, not only will there be less folks uninsured, but that the high costs of ER care will be mitigated.

There's one big problem with that assessment, though:

"Uninsured don't go to the ER more than insured."

Ooops.

Turns out, it's more about impatience than insurance:

"ER visits by the uninsured were no more likely to be triaged as non-urgent than visits by privately insured patients or those with Medicaid coverage."

In other words, one of the main arguments underpinning the "we have to do something now" crowd's rationale just got yanked. Oh well, back to the drawing board, right?
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