Dive Brief:
-
A September poll by the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) finds that seven in 10 emergency physicians are seeing insured patients at hospital emergency departments because they delayed care due to high out-of-pocket costs.
-
When those patients finally seek care, their narrow networks drive them to ED, the physicians said.
- In addition, 67% of the respondents said patients came to the ED because their primary care physicans referred them for tests or procedures their health plans don't cover in an office setting.
Dive Insight:
ACEP argues the narrow network trend fails to provide adequate options, forcing patients out of network and discouraging them from seeking timely care.
"This is a scary environment for patients," said Jay Kaplan, MD, FACEP, president of ACEP, in a prepared statement. "Many patients are motivated by fear of costs and not by the seriousness of their medical conditions."
While a typical silver plan under the ACA has an annual deductible of $6,000, the average person only has $700 in the bank for emergencies, noted Rebecca Parker, MD, ACEP's chair of the board of directors, in an interview with Medscape Medical News.
Among the other findings were 60% of the doctors had difficulty finding specialists for their patients due to narrow networks, and more than 80% have treated patients who said they had difficulty finding care due to narrow networks.