Variation in ER visit use for the five most populous states

(HealthDay)—There is variation in the number of emergency department visits and expected source of payment for visits in the five most populous states (California, Florida, Illinois, New York, and Texas), according to two June data briefs published by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS).

Esther Hing, M.P.H., from the NCHS, and Pinyao Rui, M.P.H., from Global Evaluation & Applied Research Solutions, examined emergency department use in 2012. The researchers found that the emergency department visit rate was 42 visits per 100 persons, and ranged from 37 visits in New York to 49 visits in Texas, per 100 persons. California and Florida had a higher percentage of emergency department visits resulting in admission to the same hospital, compared with the national level (16 and 17 percent, respectively, versus 11 percent).

Jill J. Ashman, Ph.D., also from the NCHS, and colleagues examined emergency department use by the expected source of payment. The researchers found that 33 percent of emergency department visits in the United States made by an adult aged 18 to 64 years in 2012 had private insurance as the expected source of payment; the percentage was lower for Illinois. Overall, 21 percent of visits had Medicaid as the expected source of payment; the percentage varied from 12 percent in Texas to 30 percent in New York.

"In 2012, 20 percent of emergency department visits in the United States were made by adults aged 18 to 64 with no insurance," Ashman and colleagues write. "This percentage varied across the five most populous states, ranging from 15 percent in New York to 28 percent in Texas."