UCSF study finds big jump in ER visits, By Victoria Colliver, August 11, 2010, San Francisco Chronicle: “Emergency room visits to U.S. hospitals increased more than 23 percent from 1997 to 2007 – double what researchers expected the rise would be based on population growth, according to a UCSF study released today. Total annual visits to the country’s emergency departments rose from 94.9 million in 1997 to an estimated 116.8 million over the next decade, the study found. Visit rates for adults on Medicaid accounted for the jump, while rates for adults with private insurance and those on Medicare showed no significant change. Relatively low reimbursements to physicians who care for patients on Medicaid, the federal-state health program for the poor who meet certain criteria, were believed to be a key factor behind the increase…”
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty