Despite predictions that the ACA would ease the strain on emergency rooms, the number of ER visits by Medi-Cal patients rose 75 percent over five years, according to data released by California's Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development.
ACA advocates argued ER visits would decrease once people received health coverage since they could afford to see primary care physicians instead. However, ER visits by California's Medicaid population jumped from 800,000 in the first quarter of 2012 to 1.4 million in the final quarter of 2016, according to the data.
Experts argue that the sharp incline in ER visits for Medi-Cal patients is attributed to physicians turning away Medicaid patients due to California's low Medicaid reimbursement rates, the ERs being open 24/7 and patient's habit of seeking treatment through the ER since by law they can not be turned away, according to California Healthline.