How Medicaid Cuts Will Bleed Emergency Medicine

""Hospital closures over the past 20 years and physician shortages undermine assumptions about timely emergency care in the United States. Cuts to Medicaid put the entire emergency-medicine safety net at risk.""

""Recent findings show that ERs across the country are dangerously overstretched and underfunded. Approximately 20 percent of emergency visits each year go unpaid, totaling nearly $5.9 billion in unreimbursed care costs absorbed by hospitals.""

Hospital closures and physician shortages in the U.S. have put emergency medical services at risk prior to recent legislation that cuts $1 trillion from Medicaid. This threatens access for 12 million Medicaid recipients, along with millions more losing insurance from changes to the Affordable Care Act. The average health-insurance premium is almost $9,000 annually, a significant burden for low-income families earning only $15,000. Additionally, emergency rooms are overburdened, with $5.9 billion in unpaid emergency care costs impacting hospital finances.

Read at The Atlantic