Nine Texans, 2,678 emergency room visits: Should we ration health care?

AOL ^ | June 17, 2009 | Tom Barlow

[Baladas]

A recent study by the Integrated Care Collaboration (ICC) of emergency room visits in Central Texas discovered that, over the past six years, nine individuals have made 2,678 ER visits to local hospitals, at a cost of $3 million. One of these people visited 145 times last year and 554 times in the past five years.

Reading these stats reinforces my conviction that any unified national health care program will have to include that ugly word, rationing. Nine people should not be able to run up a $3 million tab when so many others lack basic services such as vaccines and prenatal care.

These nine are the poster people for wretched excess, but the problem of people using the ER as a clinic for non-emergency complaints is widespread. According to a CDC study, of the 119.2 million ER visits in 2006, only 15.9 million could be classified as true emergencies. A staggering 11 percent of all non-emergency medical care visits in the U.S. now take place in the ER rather than doctor's offices or clinics.

[ridesthemiles]

One of these people visited 145 times last year
This does not pass the smell test!”

How many times did this same person vote—thanks to ACORN??

[Baladas]

I just picked your post at random, Robert, read the accompanying article:

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/04/01/0401er.html?COXnetJSessionIDbuild145_prod=2yhHJTlNZcqKQgJrH1pkdtqqYGTX0q1vvCTWbvz126hZymDbMs31!-250005760&UrAuth=%60N%5DNUOcNUUbTTUWUXU%60UZTZU_UWU%5DU%5EUZU%5CU_UcTYWYWZV&urcm=y

More info there

[ridesthemiles]

If I want to spend my money on 500 ER visits, and not on vaccines for “the needy”, its my beeswax, and not some columnists!””

When I heard this story a couple of months back, I thought it said that none of these people had any insurance, and costs were borne by the taxpayers.

[farmer18th]

"The Texas nine are middle-aged...seven have mental diagnoses.."

Somehow that little detail seems to belong in the first paragraph, not at the end of the story.

[Domandred]

I heard about this a while ago. I don’t think it was actually the same 9 people, just the same 9 identities and probable a lot more actual people.

[AuntB]

70% of Births are Illegal Immigrants at Parkland Memorial Hospital ...
Jan 31, 2008 ... That’s** 11200 anchor babies** **born every year just in Dallas * ... But at Parkland Hospital , they do. ‘ Parkland Memorial Hospital has ...
www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1962723/posts -

[TSgt]

My wife is a heathcare professional.

Her hospital once had an obese lady that was constantly in and out of the hospital for stomach problems. A persistent infection was visible on her abdomen. Finally after curing her many times of this pain and infection a doctor decided to take a sample and send it off the lab.

The result......feces.

They confronted the lady about it and she admitted to injecting herself with her own feces.

She was Medicare/Medicaid i.e. you and I paid for it.

We also paid for the follow-up psych treatment...

[dragnet2]

No, they weren't illegals.

The had proper, legitimate ID.

[GeronL]

Hey, I remember when they caught people selling those at the Lido Apartments here in Irving

[mewzilla]

I still don’t buy it. Unless fingerprints were obtained at the time of each visit...

[dragnet2]

70% of Births are Illegal Immigrants at Parkland Memorial Hospital (Dallas, Texas)

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1962723/posts?page=27#26

[Old Professer]

It was either that or sleep under the bridge; at least it was warm in the waiting room and the bathrooms worked.

[Jonx6]

As a first responder in Austin, this is not unexpected.

In fact if, someone should check into the amount of money that the top 50 or so “regulars” cause for taxpayers here.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

I remember when Great Britain first started their universal health care program.

The libraries were suddenly full of people who were reading up on various sickness symptoms to tell the medical people so they could get free benefits.

[Beowulf9]

“>>I’ve got a question: Nine people, or nine identities?<<

That is exactly what I was thinking. :)”

I’m an RN in Phoenix, Az. Believe me, this stuff happens.

we have a girl out here, for example, who goes to the ER every week or so, attempting to get admitted. She frequents various hospitals and gets into them all the time. We see her often at our hospital throughout the year.

It’s all about drugs. She gets ‘high’ in the hospital with complaints of abdominal pain. Gets discharged with a prescription for percocet or something, goes out on the street and sells it, then readmits for another prescription.

For real. And btw, I guess I’m not allowed to mention her color. Well, it’s not unfrequent that her race has a not a few of these types.

I can’t imagine what the ER’s are like in the NY or elsewhere. Nightmare.

The law protects her right to do this crap.

[Nathan Zachary]

Reading these stats reinforces my conviction that any unified national health care program will have to include that ugly word, rationing.

But it will be impossible to ration. This is why 300 million people with "universal" health care is not a cost that can be easily predicted.

Accident prone people MUST go to the ER. Old people have all sorts of health problems, and are always running to the ER to have every ach and pain checked out in case it's another heart attack.

Then there's the regular hypochondriacs who always have something wrong with them.

Worst of them all, is new mothers with their babies.

One new mother and her baby can make those 9 Texans look like responsible citizens who only use the Er when absolutely necessary.

[TheZMan]

OK, I have to ask... why was she doing that?

[Logophile]

My neighbor, an emergency room nurse, told me of a family who wanted to go out of town, but did not want to take grandma along. They called an ambulance, said grandma was having chest pains, and got her admitted overnight. Problem solved. (My neighbor says that the hospital does not expect to get paid for grandma's stay.)

A relative of mine, a psychiatrist, tells me that the police often drop off drunks at the emergency room. The ER docs will try to get the drunks admitted to the psychiatry department, even though the drunks do not have a psychiatric problem. Of course, the drunks usually lack the means to pay, and of course the city refuses to pay.

Guess who pays the bills for all this?

[Nathan Zachary]

"It’s all about drugs. She gets ‘high’ in the hospital with complaints of abdominal pain. Gets discharged with a prescription for percocet or something, goes out on the street and sells it, then readmits for another prescription."

This is where a national pharmacy data base system would come in handy. A person like that would set off warning bells with a system that tracks a persons prescriptions and can tell when someone is scamming the ERs for prescription drugs to sell on the street.

Some provices in Canada have that. It has really cut down on abusers and prescription drug trafficing and abuse.

[beaversmom]

I have a relative that was pulling something similar several years back by going to various doctors for different made up ailments to get pills. A doctor confronted him on it. The relative left in a huff and he didn’t get the prescription he wanted. I’m surprised that the hospitals would continue giving the pills out to the woman you described if they know what she’s up to.