This report from the Kaiser Family Foundation examines the impact of the economic recession on hospital emergency departments. 

From the report:

Since the economic recession began over a year and a half ago, the impact of rising unemployment and un-insurance has rippled through families, communities, and the safety-net that supports them. To learn more about the recession’s impact on hospital emergency departments – a crucial part of the health care safety-net and a setting where evidence of recessionary pressures might be expected to emerge – the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured recently conducted a set of interviews with emergency department heads and others practicing in emergency departments. The observations and perspectives of these clinicians offer a qualitative look at the impact of the recession on a diverse group of institutions and the patients they serve.

Full report: Emergency Departments Under Growing Pressure (PDF | 673.12 KB)

The Kaiser Family Foundation. (2009). Emergency departments under growing pressure. Paradise, J. & Dark, C.