Exploring Health Insurance Status and Emergency Department Utilization

Emergency department (ED) use, by both insured and uninsured, leads to significant health care costs in the United States. While frequent ED use is often attributed to the uninsured, there is some evidence that insured populations also report utilizing the ED when otherwise preventable or nonurgent. We conducted in-person surveys of patients visiting the ED at a large research hospital and examined the differences in their characteristics based on the health insurance status. While less than the uninsured, insured individuals still report barriers to access to care outside the ED that include lack of access to another health care facility and unavailability of a doctor's office or clinic.