Gaming the system - Austin, Texas
Talk about an abuse of the system -- from
Yahoo News/Associated Press:
9 patients made nearly 2,700 ER visits in Texas
Just nine people accounted for nearly 2,700 of the emergency room visits in the Austin area during the past six years at a cost of $3 million to taxpayers and others, according to a report. The patients went to hospital emergency rooms 2,678 times from 2003 through 2008, said the report from the nonprofit Integrated Care Collaboration, a group of health care providers who care for low-income and uninsured patients.
"What we're really trying to do is find out who's using our emergency rooms ... and find solutions," said Ann Kitchen, executive director of the group, which presented the report last week to the Travis County Healthcare District board.
The average emergency room visit costs $1,000. Hospitals and taxpayers paid the bill through government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, Kitchen said.
The article then mentions that eight of the nine have drug abuse problems. Sweet Baby Jebus -- 2,700 * 1,000 = $2,700,000 or $300,000 per person. You could institutionalize each of them and save over 50% of your tax dollars.
Posted by DaveH at April 2, 2009 4:25 PM