If you are on Medicaid/MediCal and wake up with a sore throat, sore back, sore hip or a sore toe, you don’t need to make an appointment just show up in your local ER.
That will give you something to do for most of the day and the small herd that brings you to the hospital ER.
Apparently, ER visits don’t count towards your monthly office visit limits.
This overload of non ER freebee patients in the ERs can sometimes mean long waits for paying patients with real emergencies. The ER staffs often are afraid to keep MediCaid patients and their clan/support group waiting too long. Often they will see them and get them out of the ER faster than those with real ER problems.
We are already seeing what appears to be an increase in ER visits and 911 calls where I work and live here in Washington State. The problem is that even a small increase bogs the system down and people with real problems don’t get treated in a timely manner. There is absolutely nothing good that is going to come from this legislation... it is virtually bad at every level. Which is what happens when the government starts meddling in areas where they have no expertise.