People who have a personal physician are often inclined to go to the emergency room when they have a bad sore throat or a persistent cough and are unable to reach their own doctor. And as any responsible medical professional will tell you, emergency rooms are hardly the place to go for run-of-the-mill ailments. That is especially true now that millions of Americans have lost their jobs and the medical insurance that comes with them. Lacking any option, they are showing up in emergency rooms, contributing to ever-longer waits and a higher risk of cursory treatment by overworked doctors and nurses.