Insured blacks more likely to use ER

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- African-Americans are more likely than others who are insured to use a hospital emergency room, U.S. researchers say.

Despite health maintenance organization emphasis on preventive care 25.4 percent of all privately insured African-Americans enrolled in a Kaiser Permanente plan used the emergency room in the past year in contrast to 14 percent of Asian-American enrollees and 17.5 percent of Latinos, the study says.

The study finds African-Americans enrolled in HMOs are far more likely to use an emergency room and to delay getting needed prescription drugs than HMO-insured members of other racial and ethnic groups.

Lead author Dylan Roby of the University of California, Los Angeles, Center for Health Policy Research says the reasons behind the emergency room use and drug delays among African-Americans are the subject of future research but the data suggests the way HMOs or their contracted physicians provide care and the way patients respond to that care may create obstacles to timely primary care.

"It's troubling, because it suggests that even if you are insured and well-off, you still may not be getting the care you need," Roby says in a statement.