Financial Concerns Delay Heart Care

If you are uninsured or underinsured, worry about the cost of a possible false-alarm keeps people from getting to a hospital where immediate treatment can prevent more extensive and expensive treatment later.  A study released in yesterday's edition of the JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association, and described here, confirms what many physicians have known for years.  

For the millions of American adults who don't have health insurance, and those who have it but worry that illness might ruin them financially, the signs of an impending heart attack do not set in motion the kind of rapid, lifesaving response that medical professionals urge, according to a study conducted at 24 urban hospitals across the nation.

Instead, when uninsured or financially insecure adults feel stabbing chest pain, burning in the shoulders and jaw, or extreme pressure across the midsection, they are more likely than the reliably insured to consider the economic consequences of a false alarm and put off getting help .

Patients who delay getting immediate medical attention for a heart attack are more likely to be rehospitalized for heart problems, to go on to develop congestive heart failure, to suffer the ongoing chest pains called angina, and to have generally poorer health.  

While it isn't part of this study, the costs for some of the care of those who are uninsured or underinsured are passed on to those with health insurance, and those costs are higher because treatment was delayed.

This is just one area where recently passed health reform will bring important changes for the better:  costs will be lower and the care delivered will be more effective because treatment won't be delayed.