Take Action Now
Will lifesaving emergency care be there when you need it?
Emergency medicine has long served as the “safety net” of health care, but as the breakdown of the nation’s overall health care system worsens, this safety net has been put under enormous strain. In recent years, the overall capacity of emergency medicine has sharply declined due to emergency department closures, crowding issues, on-call specialists’ shortage, and boarding and ambulance diversion practices. These problems are greatly accelerated by the current financial crisis and rapidly failing health care system.
More than 1,200 emergency physicians responding to poll (82.9 percent) reported that they are seeing more patients who have lost their jobs and health insurance, and 1,515 (87.8 percent) reported treating patients who had been turned away for care elsewhere, such as a doctor’s office or clinic. Of those responding, 1,260 (72.7 percent) indicated they personally had seen a patient with serious medical consequences because of delayed medical care.
The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) has called on Congress for immediate action by passing the Access to Emergency Medical Services Act. The legislation, which aims to help emergency patients, calls for the creation of a national bipartisan commission on access to emergency medical services to examine factors that affect the delivery of care in U.S. emergency departments. The bill also recognizes the need for additional resources in support of care delivery. In addition, the legislation calls on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to collect data on emergency department boarding so that standards and guidelines can be developed where appropriate.
Sponsors of the legislation — Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Rep. Bart Gordon (D-TN) and Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) — recognize the critical role of emergency medicine in the health care system and understand that at no other time has the role of emergency medicine been more important. And unless Congress does something now, the ER crisis could become catastrophic and irreversible.
No one is immune. Even if you have health insurance, you could wait for countless hours before seeing a doctor simply because the ER is so crowded. Worse yet, you could find out all too late that your local ER was closed.
And remember the statistic of every minute a person is denied critical emergency care in this country? That’s because every 60 seconds an ambulance is denied access to an emergency department – a practice known as ambulance diversion. And once you do get into the ER, you might find that a specialist you need such as a cardiologist or neurosurgeon is simply not available.
The ER crisis impacts every American. And every American must take action to see that access to emergency medical care is available when they need it. Let your voice be heard. Contact your member of Congress today with this simple and easy online form.
Don’t let your right to quality emergency medical care be taken away from you and your family.