Factors Associated With Closures of Emergency Departments in the United States

Abstract

As the only place in the US health care system that serves all patients, emergency departments (EDs) are the “safety net of the safety net.”¹ Federal law requires hospital EDs to evaluate and treat all patients in need of emergency care regardless of ability to pay.² Although only 4% of US physicians work in a hospital ED, it is estimated that they provide more acute care to Medicaid beneficiaries and the uninsured than the rest of US physicians combined.³