Statistics reveal that emergency room visits are up and not decreasing as the president promised before Obamacare became the law of the land.
Ryan Allen, Emergency Medicine Service Line Director at Bakersfield Heart Hospital told23 ABC Bakersfield that not only are ER room visits increasing, but lines are long. “Unfortunately it can take hours to be seen, because those patients who are possibly having a heart attack, they’re pushed in front.”
With increased numbers of insured Americans under Obamacare, more people are now using the emergency rooms. Obama touted that the additional policy holders would not need to resort to emergency rooms. However, according to Allen, given that most people work until 7 PM and doctor offices close early, people in need of medical assistance end up heading over to the nearby ER.
h/t C Steven Tucker
I work at an ER and our census is up placing much stress on staff and resources. Our ER is clogged with people coming in with sore throats, coughing, pregnancy tests (!), head congestion, STD checks, prescription refills, etc. And most of these folks (I’m talking 90% or more) are repeat customers that use the ER as if it were a free public clinic. I doubt any of them even bothered signing up with Obamacare. Most have no insurance and have no intentions of paying or are on Medicaid. They use the Medicaid card like it is a Visa Gold Card. And they get upset when they have to wait to be seen. Imagine that! And when in triage you can see them drive up in late model cars, tattoos on their body, equipped with cell phones, ipads, etc. I am sure they are not calling prospective employers with those phones. And don’t get me started on the illegals and other new immigrants who either seek free care or are on the dole. Yea, and I’m supposed to empathize with them? How? Why? Name one other product where the proprietor has to provide service and care knowing they will never be reimbursed. Don;t get me started on this it burns me up. I’ll leave you with this, any clown who says the uninsured or underinsured do not get the same care as someone who does have insurance..tell them they are as clueless as the day is long. It is actually those who have insurance who balk at expensive tests because of deductibles or co-pays. Those who are responsible are the ones getting squeezed. The poor in the US live like kings in this country compared to the real poor in other nations
I was going to crack wise about ‘Obama the Petulant’ and his unintended consequences, but I read Stop2think’s letter.
“Yea, and I’m supposed to empathize with them? How? Why?”
Do you decide whether to extend or withhold your empathy towards patients based on their position in the social strata?
Of course people abuse the systems. It’s basic human nature.
Part of working with the public involves exposure to the ignorant, willfully stupid, the unaware, and the blind (fig.)
I thought empathy was part of practicing medicine.
@Lazlo: How can you have empathy for people who abuse the system. I’ve seen first hand what goes on in the emergency room. I learned not to take my mother there by car but to call an ambulance. My poor mother had to sit among fat people who took up 2 seats. children running around screaming and playing on the floor while their parents are outside smoking. My mother is in a room right now with a 54 year old woman who has never worked and brags how she works the system. She’s the most demanding of all the patients. I despise this woman, because of her bragging about gaming the system. I actually think she does it to irritate me. I have little to NO Empathy for these cocoapuffers.
@ Lazlo, are you serious? You’re part of the freak show, wow!
Actually I don’t have empathy for lawbreakers and slacker types and gamers of the system.
But I don’t bag on them for being poor and sick and ignorant and stupid when I’m paid to take care of them.