Yahoo! News - Study: Uninsured Patients Flood U.S. Emergency Rooms
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Patients lacking health insurance are flooding U.S. emergency rooms, many seeking routine care that they should get elsewhere, a group representing government-funded clinics reported on Monday.

The report by The National Association of Community Health Centers finds that in 2002 there were 110.2 million visits to hospital emergency departments, up from 89.8 million in 1998. During this time, many hospital emergency rooms closed and there were 15 percent fewer than in 1998, the report found.

"Some health centers are experiencing an explosion of uninsured patients as high as 73 percent, and due to a weakened economy and state budget cuts, no letup is in sight," the report reads.

"Fewer doctors open their doors to patients who rely on Medicaid. One-fifth are not accepting any new Medicaid patients," it said. Medicaid is the state-federal health insurance plan for the poor.

Hospitals will need government bailouts to stay in business. Ooops! We spent all the money already! Just raise rates on the insured people then. That should work.