OHSU Study Finds Cuts to Oregon Health Plan Increase Trips to Emergency Room

A study by the Oregon Health Sciences University found that visits to the emergency room by uninsured patients increased about 50% betwen 2003 and 2005, following cuts to the Oregon Health Plan in 2003. Rates for insured patients did not increase.

"While emergency hospitalizations for uninsured patients increased by 50 percent, rates for other groups remained about the same," said Robert A. Lowe, M.D., director of the OHSU Center for Policy and Research in Emergency Medicine. "This suggests that uninsured patients seeking care at emergency departments after the cuts were sicker."

("OHSU Study Finds Increase in Emergency Department Visits by Uninsured Following OHP Cuts,")

Preventative care is cheaper than the emergency room. A visit to a doctor's office for a child's cough may result in a bill in the area of $100, not counting the cost of a prescription. A trip to the emergency room, after that child's cough has turned into pneumonia, will run in the area upwards of $1,000.00, and never mind seperate bills for the doctor, the lab or prescriptions, possibly another $800 to $1,000.00.

If you don't have the $100 and can't find it, you try to treat things yourself. Sometimes that works, sometimes you really must see a doctor. There's not much more horrible for a parent than to watch your baby suffer with a 106F fever and agonize over where you can take them to see a doctor, or wonder at the emergency room whether not getting them to a doctor earlier will result in their death during this visit.

Providing good preventative care to Portland's children will result in lower healthcare costs and better quality care for all Portlanders. Hospitals will not be required to waste valuable staff and other resources on as many emergency room calls and will not lose as much money. Healthy children do better in school and are more likely to become successful adults, more likely to contribute well to society.

Read the OHSU study HERE.