Editorial: Expand health care to keep ER for true emergencies Express-News Editorial Board FacebookTwitterEmail Emergency room care is not cheap. ERs provide some of the most expensive medical care available in our community, and rightly so. Having the best facilities, equipment and medical staff available to treat heart attacks, strokes and serious injuries can be a matter of life or death. Yet for generations, many people without insurance, who forgo preventive care and allow minor medical issues to become serious health concerns, have used the emergency room for routine medical care. Broke and with no place else to go, they view it as their only option.