The American journal of medicine
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Multicenter Study
Hospital admissions through the emergency department: does insurance status matter?
To assess the effect of insurance status on the probability of admission and subsequent health status of patients presenting to emergency departments. ⋯ Uninsured patients with one of three common chief complaints appear to be less frequently admitted to the hospital than are insured patients, although health status does not appear to be affected. Whether these results reflect underutilization among uninsured patients or overutilization among insured patients remains to be determined.