Submission + - Uninsured Trauma Patients Much More Likely to Die 1
Hugh Pickens writes: "The LA Times reports that an analysis of 687,091 patients admitted for traumatic injury to more than 900 US trauma centers between 2002 and 2006 shows that for Americans without health insurance the risk of dying from traumatic injuries is almost twice as high for those without any insurance even after controlling for age, sex, race and severity and mechanism of injury. The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, passed by Congress in 1986, guarantees that people brought to emergency rooms get all necessary treatment no matter what kind of insurance they do — or don't — have but Dr. Frank Zwemer Jr., chief of emergency medicine for the Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center in Richmond, Va., says he was "kind of shocked" by the study. "We don't ask people, 'What's your insurance?' before we decide whether to intubate them or put in a chest tube," says Zwemer, who wasn't involved in the research. "That's not on our radar anywhere." Lack of insurance may increase the risk of death after trauma in several ways, the authors note. Uninsured patients may experience treatment delay; receive different care, including fewer diagnostic tests; or possess a lower rate of health literacy. "Physicians may not be cognizant that they are providing different care to the uninsured," write the study's authors. "Although the lack of insurance may not be the only explanation for the disparity in trauma mortality, the accidental costs of being uninsured in the United States today may be too high to continue to overlook.""
