Insurance concerns may delay heart attack patients from seeking treatment (USA)

"Patients without health insurance, and those who are insured but fear the cost of medical care, are more likely to delay seeking life-saving treatment when having a heart attack. 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. That delay, established in a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association may be a costly decision for the nation as well as for those who put off seeking care. Long-standing research shows that the longer a heart attack victim delays treatment, the greater the risk of dying" - LA Times

Insurers will pay for special cardiac tests (USA)

"Many middle-aged and senior Texans who are covered by certain insurance plans now qualify for tests that proponents say may detect undiagnosed cardiac disease and help them avoid premature death. A law that took effect Friday makes Texas the first state to require insurance companies to reimburse preventive heart screenings. When policies are updated this year, health insurers will be required to reimburse up to $200 for exams given to women ages 56 to 74 and men 46 to 75 considered at elevated risk of heart disease based on the Framingham Risk Score, which assesses heart disease risk based on studies of large populations over time. The bill was introduced by state Rep. Rene Oliveira, D- Brownsville, who had heart bypass surgery in his late 30s and a family history of heart disease. He decided to push the legislation after fighting his insurer in 2006 to cover a subsequent screening that detected the need for another heart procedure." - Chron

No health insurance, higher death risk (USA)

"In a new study, researchers estimate that 45,000 deaths per year in the U.S. are associated with not having health insurance. That estimate appears in the advance online edition of the American Journal of Public Health. Data came from about 9,000 people aged 17 to 64 who took part in a government health survey between 1988 and 1994. They were followed through 2000. During those years, about 3% of the participants died. People without any health insurance were 40% more likely than people with health insurance to die during the years studied, regardless of factors such as age, gender, race, income, education, health status, BMI (body mass index), exercise, smoking, and alcohol use. The researchers then applied that finding to U.S. census data. "We calculated approximately 44,789 deaths among working-age Americans in 2005 associated with the lack of insurance," write the researchers, who included Andrew Wilper, MD, MPH. Wilper worked on the study while at the Cambridge Health Alliance, which is associated with the Harvard Medical School. Wilper now works at the University of Washington. Wilper's team can't rule out other factors that could have affected the results. But they note that people without health insurance often don't" - MedicineNet.com

Even insured Americans are paying more for health care, studies show

"Several studies show that even US residents with health insurance are spending a higher proportion of their incomes on health care than ever before, and many women are ignoring health care because of costs. The studies are published at a time when the new Obama administration is promoting healthcare reform and universal coverage as its most important goals. A study by FamiliesUSA, a non-profit making organisation, found that 64 million people younger than 65 lived in families that spent more than 10% of their pre-tax income on health care - nearly one in four US residents younger than 65. Almost all of them (94%) had health insurance. The study also found that 19 million US residents spent more than 25% of their pre-tax income on health care, although 90% had health insurance" - BMJ

New study finds fewer families can afford health insurance (USA)

The majority of uninsured American families who are not covered by group health insurance through an employer cannot afford to buy health insurance, according to a new study by HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Some experts have suggested that because 23.8 million uninsured Americans under age 65 who do not have access to employer-based health insurance have incomes above the federal poverty line, they can afford to purchase policies if they so choose. But new data show otherwise. "Wealth, Income, and The Affordability of Health Insurance," published in the May/June 2009 issue of Health Affairs, shows that measuring families' median net worth - the value of their savings plus other assets minus debt rather than just income - provides more precise estimates of the percentage who could purchase policies if they chose to do so. Until now, most studies have used income alone to estimate how many more Americans could be covered by health insurance - redOrbit

Sign in and pay now: Insured patients finding they must put down higher fees upfront for care (USA)

"Patients who need medical procedures are accustomed to following a familiar pattern: Talk to a doctor, schedule it at a hospital, have the procedure done and then get a bill in the mail a month later for your share of the cost. But in South Florida and nationwide, some insured patients are being asked by hospitals to pay larger portions of their bills upfront - and sometimes hospitals will not do the procedures until they get their co-payments. Hospitals administer emergency treatment without asking for payment first, but elective or scheduled procedures - anything from nose jobs to chemotherapy - can be withheld depending on a patient's ability to pay. An informal survey of 22 hospitals in Broward and Palm Beach counties found that all have required upfront payments for elective surgeries for several years. The change that might shock patients, hospital officials said, is the larger amounts requested as insurance companies require patients to make higher out-of-pocket payments." - SunSentinal

Expert offers five tips for getting health care after losing your health insurance (USA)

"As a result of the current economic slow down, many people have lost their jobs - and their health insurance. Dr. Adam Goldstein of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill explains how people in this situation can continue getting the health care they need. More than 45 million Americans had no health insurance in 2007, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Fortunately, if you find yourself in this situation there are several things you can do to keep getting the health care services that you need, Goldstein said"

When a job disappears, so does the health care (USA)

"As jobless numbers reach levels not seen in 25 years, another crisis is unfolding for millions of people who lost their health insurance along with their jobs, joining the ranks of the uninsured. The crisis is on display here (Ohio). Starla D. Darling, 27, was pregnant when she learned that her insurance coverage was about to end. She rushed to the hospital, took a medication to induce labor and then had an emergency Caesarean section, in the hope that her Blue Cross and Blue Shield plan would pay for the delivery. Wendy R. Carter, 41, who recently lost her job and her health benefits, is struggling to pay $12,942 in bills for a partial hysterectomy at a local hospital. Her daughter, Betsy A. Carter, 19, has pain in her lower right jaw, where a wisdom tooth is growing in. But she has not seen a dentist because she has no health insurance. Ms. Darling and Wendy Carter are among 275 people who worked at an Archway cookie factory here in north central Ohio. The company provided excellent health benefits. But the plant shut down abruptly this fall, leaving workers without coverage, like millions of people battered by the worst economic crisis since the Depression" - Wilmington Star-News Online