It wasn’t supposed to work this way, but since the Affordable Care Act took effect in January, Norton Hospital has seen its packed emergency room become even more crowded, with about 100 more patients a month.
That 12 percent spike in the number of patients – many of whom aren’t actually facing true emergencies – is spurring the hospital to convert a waiting room into more exam rooms.
“We’re seeing patients who probably should be seen at our (immediate-care centers),” said Lewis Perkins, the hospital’s vice president of patient care and chief nursing officer. “And we’re seeing this across the system.”
That’s just the opposite of what many people expected under Obamacare, particularly because one of the goals of health reform was to reduce pressure on emergency rooms by expanding Medicaid and giving poor people better access to primary care.
Instead, many hospitals across the nation are seeing a surge of those newly insured Medicaid patients walking into emergency rooms.
Read more at Courier Journal.
{Matzav.com Newscenter}
duh
In order to reduce emergency department usage you need primary care and urgent care offices with longer hours. The ACA can’t force that.