Access & Health Coverage
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.