As we await the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Affordable Care Act, Sarah Kliff of The Washington Post continues to do provide great coverage of the health care reform beat. In her latest blog post, Kliff points out that emergency rooms are not, despite the claims of some conservatives, providing universal health care. While hospitals are required to treat people with life-threatening conditions, the emergency care that the uninsured receive is likely to be less intensive and less comprehensive than the treatment received by those who have insurance. And emergency room care is expensive, which means that people without insurance receive care only when they can’t ignore their symptoms any longer; well past the point when most illnesses can be treated with minimal cost.
The claim that anyone can get treated in an ER–and thus we don’t need health reform–has always left me exasperated. It’s a willful oversimplification that turns a blind eye to the real problems low-income people face when trying to access health care.
