Patients lack access to affordable care.

The results of the ACA subsidy fight won’t change that.

The ACA subsidy fight is political theater.

Everyone’s yelling about funding while patients can’t get basic care.

I used to think the healthcare debate mattered. Then I started practicing in the ER and saw the truth nobody wants to admit.

Patients already lack access to affordable care.

Being sick sucks. But navigating the healthcare system? That’s 1000x worse.

And I’m talking about the best circumstances here.

I’ve worked at excellent hospitals. Focused teams. Hardworking people. Empathetic doctors and nurses who genuinely care.

Yet patients remain intensely frustrated:

• They wait way longer than they should

• They can’t get follow-up appointments after leaving the hospital

• Their prescriptions never arrive or insurance won’t cover them

The system is collapsing right in front of us.

Customer service? Nonexistent.

Follow-up care? A joke.

Everyone feels it. Clinicians. Nurses. And especially patients.

Here’s what blew my mind when I started working in the ER:

Before practicing emergency medicine, I alwa…