CALIF-Media alert - "Santa Clara County's emergency rooms strain..."-5/4/09 San Jose Mercury News

Media alert (from SinglePayerNow.net):  "Santa Clara County's emergency rooms strained by growing number of uninsured"-5/4/09 San Jose Mercury News  

SPN communications/media committee members media alert:  See below for an article from today's San Jose Mercury about the growing cost of treating the uninsured, and information on how to write letters to the editor at the Mercury at the bottom of this page.  Thanks!  -Art

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excerpt:  "...The Kaiser Family Foundation estimates 3.9 million people in the United States have lost their

insurance since December 2007.

In California, one-third of hospitals reported an increase in uninsured patient visits to their emergency rooms since the beginning of 2008, according to a survey by the California Hospital Association. San Mateo Medical Center has observed a more than 20 percent spike in patients without coverage since last year.

The increase in uninsured patient visits to the emergency room exacerbates the department's budget woes.

Charity programs and Medi-Cal do not fully cover treatment costs, said Kim Roberts, chief executive officer of the Santa Clara Valley Health and Hospital System. For Medi-Cal patients, the hospital recoups only half of the total bill..."

full article (from:  http://www.mercurynews.com/topstories/ci_12288760?nclick_check=1):

Santa Clara County's emergency rooms strained by growing number of uninsured

By Michael Torrice

Mercury News

Posted: 05/04/2009 06:18:08 AM PDT

Updated: 05/04/2009 06:25:02 AM PDT

By Michael Torrice

Mercury News

While Roy Milligan sped along the freeway on his Harley, a metal chunk flew off a truck and struck his foot. Milligan worried the foot was broken but had lost his insurance along with his job last year. A co-worker at his new job suggested he go to Santa Clara Valley Medical Center.

"He told me they were really good to people who don't have insurance," Milligan said.

Apparently, the word is spreading. Since October, Valley Medical Center officials have seen a 10 percent increase in the number of uninsured patients visiting the emergency room, about an extra 14 patients a day. Even before swine flu sent anxious people to the doctor, this spike began stressing the county's already fragile public health budget and the emergency room's capacity to treat patients.

In addition to accident victims, many new patients suffer from chronic illnesses, such as diabetes and high blood pressure, that require regular checkups or daily medications. When they lose their insurance, their health goes unchecked and they end up needing more serious care, said Dr. Jeffrey Arnold, chief of the hospital's emergency department.

"For these people, things were under control when they had health insurance," he said. "But now the lid is starting to come off."

The Kaiser Family Foundation estimates 3.9 million people in the United States have lost their

insurance since December 2007.

In California, one-third of hospitals reported an increase in uninsured patient visits to their emergency rooms since the beginning of 2008, according to a survey by the California Hospital Association. San Mateo Medical Center has observed a more than 20 percent spike in patients without coverage since last year.

The increase in uninsured patient visits to the emergency room exacerbates the department's budget woes.

Charity programs and Medi-Cal do not fully cover treatment costs, said Kim Roberts, chief executive officer of the Santa Clara Valley Health and Hospital System. For Medi-Cal patients, the hospital recoups only half of the total bill.

As Roberts prepares a budget for the new fiscal year, she is planning to cut psychiatric beds and public health programs, such as nutrition and well-being programs, so she can protect the emergency room.

"The VMC is the safety net of the safety net," Roberts said. "If I were to restrict emergency room volume or clinic visits, then it would make the situation worse."

In addition to the uninsured patients, the emergency room has seen an increase in patients overall, from an average of 282 a day in October to 329 patients in February, the latest figures available. That influx is straining the emergency room's capacity.

With only 24 beds in the emergency room proper, doctors and nurses are sending more stable patients to a small room for basic emergency care, such as cleaning and closing lacerations. They are also sending patients with ailments such as abdominal pain and urinary tract infections to a 14-bed express clinic adjacent to the emergency room.

The goal of the system's acrobatics is to keep emergency beds available for people with more life-threatening conditions, Arnold said. But the number of available beds, doctors and nurses is stretched. "We may be very close to running out of our bag of tricks," Arnold said. "We were never designed to handle these numbers of people."

As he waited for a doctor to examine his foot, Milligan walked outside and smoked a cigarette. He worries that his injury may affect his ability to work at his new job fixing motorcycles. As for paying for his emergency room visit, Milligan is unsure.

"I figure they will send me a bill and I will have to work it out later," he said.

Contact Michael Torrice at mtorrice@mercurynews.com or 408-920-5064.

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The Merc say that letters for their editorial page must include the writer's name, address and phone number.  They say that they do not give out letter writers' phone numbers or addresses.

For US postal mail: write "Letters to the Editor" on the envelope and send it to:  750 Ridder Park Drive San Jose, CA 95190. The main fax number: (408) 288-8060;  letters to the editor fax number:  (408) 271-3792.

E-mail: letters@mercurynews.com

Many individual sections of the Mercury News also publish letters to the editor. Write the name of the section on the envelope and send it to:  750 Ridder Park Drive San Jose, CA 95190.