Study Finds Insured African Americans More Likely to Visit Emergency Room
October 27, 2009 (posted by Maya Roy)
A recent policy brief released by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research undermines the assertion that HMO enrollees are less likely to rely on emergency room care. In fact, the researchers found African American HMO enrollees in California are more likely to delay obtaining needed medications and use the emergency room than other ethnic groups in comparable HMO plans. More than two-thirds of insured African Americans in California are enrolled in HMOs (67.3 percent, or 1.35 million), compared with 64.7 percent (4.5 million) of insured Latinos and 51.6 percent (8 million) of whites. The authors recommend a reexamination of use patterns and access barriers among African American HMO enrollees.
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