BOSTON—Massachusetts will receive $4.6 million from a federal program to control government health care costs by reducing unnecessary emergency room visits.
Thursday's award by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services is part of a total $50 million in grants to 20 states.
The goal is to help state Medicaid programs divert patients away from emergency rooms to other health care centers if they don't have medical problems requiring emergency treatment. ER visits by patients who lack insurance or primary care doctors are a major factor driving up health care costs.
In Massachusetts, the grant will expand treatment alternatives. The focus will be on areas of the state with shortages of health care resources.
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