Read the research in JACEP Open.

ACEP to Congress: Reject Medicaid Changes That Would Leave Millions Uninsured

ACEP recently joined 42 national medical organizations in a letter to express concern that drastic changes to Medicaid under consideration will disproportionately affect emergency departments (EDs) already under significant strain, leaving emergency physicians with fewer resources to respond to patient needs, and threatening patient access to lifesaving emergency care.

“Emergency departments are one of the few settings where patients are treated 24/7/365, regardless of their insurance status or ability to pay,” said ACEP President Alison Haddock, MD, FACEP. “The impact of policies that will leave millions of people without any health coverage falls squarely onto emergency physicians and patients. Patients with unmet health care needs will delay treatment and their conditions will worsen, leaving them with no other option than the ED. This creates avoidable health risks and threatens the viability of an already strained health care safety net.”

Under the provisions passed by the House of Representatives, the Congressional Budget Office projects an additional 7.6 million people will go without any health coverage, resulting in an additional $5.5 billion in losses for emergency physician payments.

“The very idea of emergency medicine as we now know it—lifesaving care available for anyone at any time—is under direct threat from these proposed policy changes,” said Dr. Haddock.

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