Law Commons^™

Staffing National Health Care Reform: A Role For Advanced Practice Nurses, Linda H. Aiken, William M. Sage

Faculty Scholarship

Expanding access and coverage while containing costs can only be accomplished by getting more health care value for our money. Two facts about our current system make this seem possible. First, the currently uninsured are not costless. Providing stop-gap health care to those who lack health insurance is extremely expensive -- people without formal coverage cannot afford preventive services, delay treatment of illness and face substantial barriers to reaching appropriate providers. When they receive care, it is often degrading, usually complicated and costly, and more than occasionally too late. The cost of this "uncompensated" care is borne by all of …