Abstract
In Reply. —We agree with Dr Hass that emergency department overcrowding is a sign of the inadequate provision of ambulatory care. Increasing the availability of primary care by improving the incentives for providing those services should decrease the demand for emergency department services. However, the distribution of that care will remain inequitable as long as a significant proportion of the population does not have an adequate way to pay for these services. While charity care might bridge some gaps, recent history suggests that it is far from sufficient to guarantee universal access. Dr Kunst suggests that universal access to care and cost containment are mutually exclusive. To be sure, expanding coverage by simply building on the inefficient health system that currently exists in the United States invites aggravation of the cost predicament. However, the US General Accounting Office and others have demonstrated the potential for administrative savings from national health
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
