Obamacare: emergency room visits have increased since 2014

 You might remember that during the Obamacare debate one of the key selling points Barack Obama used in an attempt to gain support for the legislation with the American people was that emergency room visits would decline because the formally uninsured people would now be able to visit a primary care physician instead of relying on the emergency room for primary care. This was supposed to help bring down the costs of healthcare.

  It turns out, according to this story, not only has that not happened but emergency room visits have actually increased since the law was passed. (And of course the cost of healthcare has not gone down) Here is more: 

Doctors say emergency room visits have increased since the advent of Obamacare, undercutting one of the key selling points of President Obama’s health care law, which was supposed to ensure a healthier population by pushing consumers to rely on their primary physicians rather than emergency trips to the hospital.

Three out of four ER doctors said they have seen a rise in the number of patients since January 2014, when Obamacare fully kicked in, according to a survey conducted by the American College of Emergency Physicians. More than a quarter of the doctors said they have seen a major surge, and 47 percent said the rise has been slight.

The doctors said they fear a spike in visits could overwhelm their resources: Seven out of 10 said their departments aren’t prepared for a significant increase in patient volume.

The biggest cause is a lack of primary care doctors to treat the increased number of patients with health care coverage, so the patients are turning to the emergency room instead — exactly what wasn’t supposed to happen.

“Just because people have health insurance does not mean they have access to timely medical care,” said Michael Gerardi, president of the American College of Emergency Physicians.

Some patients also may be in the habit of turning to emergency rooms or have a hard time getting away from work for daytime checkups.

“There’s such a hassle factor in making an appointment,” said Avik Roy, a senior fellow at the conservative Manhattan Institute. “It’s just a lot easier to show up at the emergency room.”

  This does not necessarily mean that Obamacare is responsible for this increase in emergency room visits–although the lack of primary care doctors to cope with the increase of newly-insured people signals a major flaw in the plan–but I think it does show us this issue is more complex than Barack Obama led the American people to believe with his simple talking points and flowing rhetoric. 

Malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium