New Health Care Law Doesn't Help Emergency Care

You wonder if anyone really thought any of this through:

"Conditions in emergency rooms may be worsened by the new health care law, several experts said. The law will expand eligibility for Medicaid, the government health plan for the poor. Often beneficiaries turn to emergency rooms for care, because many physicians do not accept Medicaid payments, said Dr. Sandra M. Schneider, president of the American College of Emergency Physicians.

Emergency rooms are required by law to provide treatment regardless of ability to pay. “People will have coverage, but there’s a concern that there will be nowhere for them to go,” Dr. Schneider said."

Uninsured Nursing Home Employees

A pretaxed $25 monthly premium, even if it is poor coverage, doesn't really seem all that great of a burden. But having no health insurance options is a scandal.

"The Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute, a nonprofit group that studies the industry, says that 26 percent of front-line workers in nursing homes and 37 percent of those employed by home care agencies are uninsured."