Access & Health Coverage
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About Us What does State Issues Forum do for State, Regional, and Metropolitan Hospital Associations?The State Issues Forum acts as a clearinghouse for legislative and regulatory issues at the state and local level.
Scanning the Headlines: Access and Coverage
Updated on December 1, 2017
Emergency departments are an important resource for all communities, but EDs play a special role in providing care for traditionally underserved populations—the poor, the uninsured, certain minority groups, and rural residents—who often have trouble accessing other sources of care.
Essential access is about more than providing needed medical care — it is about how and to whom those services are provided. While traditional funding for these services is crumbling, demand for these services continues to increase as the number of uninsured grows.