The point of the ER example is it runs counter to one of ACA’s important justification claims, viz. requiring all manner of preventive care coverage — even from

The point of the ER example is it runs counter to one of ACA’s important justification claims, viz. requiring all manner of preventive care coverage — even from low-premium, high-deductible plans — would reduce ER usage by giving the formerly uninsured the option of primary care. Even though now the ER isn’t “the only place they can go,” the author asserts that some choose to visit the ER as a matter of convenience. Reality isn’t likely to be quite this simple, e.g., another likely factor is a shortage of physicians accepting Medicaid. The example isn’t silly at all. Central to ACA advocacy was how high American healthcare spending was relative to other countries and that costs would fall with ER-as-primary gone.