When Emergency Strikes, Will Your Health Care Costs Be Covered?

Lise Stevens
Updated
You may not think about what your emergency health care covers until it's too late
You may not think about what your emergency health care covers until it's too late

Most Americans don't think about emergency care coverage until they actually need emergency care.

After Randy Gardner was shot at the recent mass shooting at a Safeway store in Tucson, Ariz., he immediately thought, "What is this going to cost me?" according to an article in The New York Times. Of the people injured that day, Gardner was one of the 5% who had no health insurance.

The costs of an unexpected injury can lead to a financial disaster for the uninsured, a quagmire of bureaucracy and uncovered costs for the insured, and stacks of bills for both. According to the most recent statistics available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2007, there were about 117 million emergency department visits in the U.S., 2% of which resulted in admission to an observation unit.

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