Comments on: Myth 12. The uninsured cause overcrowding in emergency rooms, and increase costs for the “rest of us” through cost-shifting.

By: Leader promises not to rest until he works miracle. « AAPS News of the Day

Leader promises not to rest until he works miracle. « AAPS News of the Day — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 05:32:54 +0000

[...] The uninsured are a burden on insured people, who pay $1,000/year for somebody else’s emergency and charity care. [See AAPS Mythbuster #12.] [...]

By: S Smith MD

S Smith MD — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 06:00:49 +0000

Well, they certainly consume valuable OR resources as I took care of one that put his hand into a lawnmower and one who got stabbed last night…..

By: John Barchilon, M.D.

John Barchilon, M.D. — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 04:34:03 +0000

I am amazed at this, but I should not be, because I have experienced larcenous Medicare and Medicaid failures to pay on the part of the government, via their so-called private administrative agencies, like NHIC.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 16:25:59 +0000

Let me see… If government pays to insure 1000 people too poor to buy their own coverage, and 30 of them go to the ER twice, each, in a year, the insurance companies that manage the coverage will get 1000 government paid premiums more than they would have gotten, otherwise, and the care will be underpaid, so doctors and hospitals will continue to require outside funding, right? In fact, the underpayments might be such as to not even cover the ER’s costs (including the added billing issues), so the ER will lose money, this way, too. The only difference I see is that the insurance companies will raise their profits and create commercial talking points that twist the truth about how they “care” for the poor. Cynical, but it fits the Medicaid scenario.