Nationwide, a majority of emergency room physicians report an increase in the number of patients since the Affordable Care Act took effect.
The law was intended to cover the uninsured and steer more of them into primary care rather than the ER, but that hasn’t happened, according to a report issued last week by the American College of Emergency Physicians.
"We're seeing many more people coming in now with coverage needing service," said Michael Rust, president of the Kentucky Hospital Association. "A lot of the folks are having access issues in areas of the country and state where there's not enough primary care physicians to handle everyone that has new coverage."
Kentucky had a doctor shortage even before the ACA took effect. Compounding the situation is that most of the newly insured in Kentucky are on Medicaid, and some physicians won’t accept Medicaid because of its low reimbursement rates.
