ED Use Growing at Steady Pace in Los Angeles County, Despite ACA Implementation

A Los Angeles Times analysis finds that emergency department use in Los Angeles County continued to increase during the first six months of Affordable Care Act implementation, countering claims that the health reform law would reduce expensive ED visits and that newly insured residents would use less ED care. Data show that ED visits for medical issues that did not require an admission grew 3.9% in the county during the first half of 2014, which is in line with growth in years prior to the ACA's implementation.

• "Since Obamacare, L.A. County ER Visits Show Hospitals in 'State of Flux'" (Karlamangla/Menezes, Los Angeles Times, 1/1).