Wednesday, April 9, 2014

New Study Contradicts GOP Claim That ‘Everyone Can Just Go To The Hospital, Uninsured 2x Likely To Die In ER

from http://thinkprogress.org/health/2009/11/17/171060/uninsured-emergency/

Conservatives dismiss the importance of extending health insurance coverage to the 46 million uninsured by arguing that every American already has access to health care in the nation's emergency rooms. "We hear a lot of people talk about the 46 million plus who don't have access, well that's hogwash," Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) told a caller on CSPAN's Washington Journal in April, "Everybody has access, the problem is everybody doesn't have insurance":

- Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC): "Well, no one is going to go without health care, because everyone can just show up at the hospital, but that's just not the most efficient way to do it." [Huffington Post, 11/04/2009]

- Rep. Steve King (R-IA): "All Americans have health care. Every single one. And 85 percent of us are insured….you would throw out the liberty of America. Throw out the baby with the bath water of the best health insurance industry in the world, the best health care delivery system in the world. Destroyed by a desire to create a dependency society to steal our freedom." [CSPAN, 10/07/2008]

- Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC): "There are no Americans who don't have healthcare. Everybody in this country has access to healthcare." [Talk Radio News Service, 7/24/2009]

But a new study published in Archives of Surgery has found that not all Americans are treated equally. Uninsured Americans "with traumatic injuries, such as car crashes, falls and gunshot wounds, were almost twice as likely to die in the hospital as similarly injured patients with health insurance," the study concluded.

Researchers have long argued that uninsured adults face a higher risk of mortality than insured adults, are less likely to seek needed medical care, and are more likely to develop serious chronic conditions. This Harvard team of researchers hypothesized that "given the pervasive evidence of disparities in screening, hospital admission, treatment, and outcomes due to insurance status, a disparity in outcomes in trauma patients (in-hospital death) among the uninsured may exist, despite preventive regulations (such as the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act)."

rest at http://thinkprogress.org/health/2009/11/17/171060/uninsured-emergency/

1 comment:

  1. Having health insurance will help in all emergency situations concerning your health. But not people have enough money to purchase such insurance. Government should take care of such people or CashAdvanceLoanStore in US is a good opportunity to avoid bad consequences.

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