At least 20 million Americans do not have health insurance. Most of these people are forced to use hospital emergency rooms as their primary source of medical care. The majority of our nation’s emergency rooms loose hundreds of millions of dollars each year and many have closed for this reason. In human terms, ER patients often wait long periods of time before receiving treatment while others are unable to receive treatment at all. Each year, about 500,000 ambulances are diverted to more distant hospitals due to overcrowding at local ERs.

Injuries accounts for over 150,000 deaths and over 3 million non-fatal injuries per year. In 2015, the costs associated with fatal injuries were $214 billion, while nonfatal injuries totaled $457 billion. Each year, 27 million people are treated in emergency rooms and released, and more than 192,000 die as a result of unintentional and violence related injuries. Data shows that ERs with low profit margins and those at for-profit facilities were nearly twice as likely to close as other ERs. Experts say that we do not have enough emergency room facilities. They claim these assets are woefully inadequate to treat large numbers of victims from a disaster or terror attack.

Proposed Legislation: H.R.647 - Access to Life-Saving Trauma Care for All Americans Act (114th Congress 2015-2016)
Prospective Sponsor: Rep. Michael Burgess (TX)