Study: Ambulances Slower Under Obamacare

The Affordable Care Act caused ambulance arrival times to slow by an average of 19 percent, according to a recent report from the National Bureau of Economic Research.

The study, conducted by researchers from Georgia State University and the University of Colorado in Denver, found that some of those who gained insurance under the ACA began using medical services they didn’t have access to before, causing response times to "increase substantially," by almost two minutes on average, according to data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System from 2010 to 2015.

"We estimate that the expansions of private and Medicaid coverage under the ACA combined to slow ambulance response times by an average of 19 percent. We conclude that, through extending coverage to individuals who, in its absence, would not have availed themselves of emergency medical services, the ACA added strain to emergency response systems."

"Expanding health insurance coverage should, in theory, increase the amount of medical care demanded by reducing its out-of-pocket price," the authors write. They note that care providers might lack the resources to increase the number of ambulances and first responders, but that, "In the long-run, providers could, in theory, respond to increased demand by employing more EMS workers and ambulances."

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