Floridians spend more than 2.5 hours in the ER
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Patients in Florida now spend an average of more than two and a half hours in hospital emergency departments, new federal data shows.
Why it matters: Health care is harder to come by in the Sunshine State, where Medicaid hasn't been expanded and Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies that helped lower premiums have lapsed.
- Forthcoming insurance eligibility and cost changes could lead people to put off care until their health reaches a crisis point, sending even more patients to an ER.
Driving the news: In Florida, the median time spent in the emergency department was 156 minutes during the year ending Sept. 30, 2025, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
- Longer visits may also mean longer waits to see a clinician — a driver of negative experiences and increased costs for the health care system.
- Washington, D.C., had the highest median visit length at 303 minutes. North Dakota had the lowest, at 110 minutes. The national median visit length stayed the same from the previous year.
Between the lines: More than 20% of patients spend more time waiting for an ER visit than recommended for their triage level, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- Reducing ER wait times is one focus in a federal effort to improve health care by 2030.
The big picture: Once patients are seen in the ER, they can face longer waits before they're admitted to the hospital.
- The vast majority of emergency departments report overcrowding, and nearly a quarter of people requiring inpatient care have to wait at least four hours for a bed to open up, according to a study published last week in JAMA.
- The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality convened a summit in 2024 to address what happens to patients who are sick enough to require inpatient care.
Yes, but: The health services research agency has been gutted since the Trump administration took office last year.
- The Department of Health and Human Services didn't respond when asked if the emergency room improvement work is continuing.