High-deductible Health Insurance Helps People Get Equal Care

by: Wiley Long

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Date: Wed, 28 Jul 2010 Time: 10:09 AM - 0 comments

High-deductible health plans can help those facing dangerous inequities in healthcare. Because this insurance typically costs less, its can spread medical care to more people.

These plans have the potential to save lives by offering less expensive premiums that more people can afford. That can lower the number of people who will be subjected to inferior medical care that has been exposed in multiple studies.

Information has been gathered regarding both adults and children, and regarding both illnesses and injuries that has repeatedly shown that those without health insurance are given inferior medical care.

The Myth that Hospitals Have to Treat Everyone Equally

Among the general U.S. population, people who are uninsured are about half as likely to receive critical care services as those with insurance, according to a systematic review of the literature by the American Thoracic Society's Health Disparities Group.

The literature also showed that uninsured patients who are admitted to intensive care units are less likely to have invasive procedures or pulmonary artery catheterizations. Most startling of all, uninsured patients are more likely to have life support withdrawn than patients with insurance.

"Patients in the United States who do not have health insurance and become critically ill receive fewer critical care services and may experience worse clinical outcomes," according to one of the review investigators, J. Randall Curtis, M.D., M.P.H. He is also president of the American Thoracic Society.

The Dangers of Lacking Health Insurance

To make this startling accusation, the researchers reviewed more than 5,500 citations on critical care and insurance status. They identified 29 observational studies that described admissions and outcomes for critically ill patients who both had and lacked health insurance coverage. Their results are published in the May 1st issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

Currently, it's estimated that as much as one-third of the U.S. population under 65 is uninsured for a portion of any given year. In addition to being subjected to reduced service and discharge delays, uninsured people with traumatic injuries were only 63 percent as likely to be admitted to hospitals as people with similar injuries who had insurance.

"Although U.S. hospitals are legally obligated to care for patients who are emergently ill, they are not obligated to be the continuing provider for medically stabilized uninsured patients," according to Robert Fowler, M.D. He is an associate professor of medicine at Sunnybrook Hospital, the University of Toronto, and he is the lead author of the systematic review.

Fowler has touched on what may explain why uninsured patients wait longer to be discharged. The delay may be a result of "difficulty in finding healthcare providers or facilities to accept these patients," according to Fowler.

"We found evidence that patients who are critically ill with lesser degrees of insurance coverage receive fewer critical care services compared with those who have more insurance. Developing more comprehensive programs and legislation to improve health coverage for patients who are acutely ill would therefore seem a logical avenue for investigation," the study authors conclude.

High-deductible Health Insurance Plans Are Part of the Solution

Not having health insurance coverage is associated with both reduced medical care and poorer outcomes for patients.

Don't wait for government action to protect to if you are injured and get sick. Take advantage of the lower-premium rates associated with high-deductible health insurance plans to get the coverage you need.

Save even more by selecting a lower-premium high-deductible insurance plan that can be combined with a Health Savings Account. With a savings account, you'll have help to pay for any medical expenses before the deductible is met and your insurance starts to pay.

Health Savings Accounts have an advantage over traditional savings accounts because they earn interest tax-free. If you use the account money to pay for qualified medical expenses, you also get a tax deduction. What if you don't need the account money for medical expenses? Your Health Savings Account dollars will continue to grow tax-free, and you can withdraw them for retirement much like IRA accounts.