What A Bargain!

Just nine people accounted for nearly 2,700 of the emergency room visits in the Austin area during the past six years at a cost of $3 million to taxpayers and others. Hmmm...looks like maybe the economy was failing for another reason.

The patients went to hospital emergency rooms 2,678 times from 2003 through 2008, said a report from the nonprofit Integrated Care Collaboration, a group of health care providers who care for low-income and uninsured patients. Or complete assholes like this nine. The average emergency room visit costs $1,000. Hospitals and taxpayers paid the bill through government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. Eight of the nine patients have drug abuse problems, seven were diagnosed with mental health issues and three were homeless. Five are women whose average age is 40, and four are men whose average age is 50, the report said.

Solutions offered include referring some frequent users to mental health programs or primary care doctors for future care. Others, like mine, cost about $40 and involves a medium caliber handgun.