A study by researchers at the Brown University School of Public Health found that avoidable mortality rose across all U.S. states from 2009 to 2021, while it declined in most other high-income countries.
If we wait until an injury or condition is imminently life-threatening then the hospital is legally obliged to treat regardless of an ability to pay and that’s one reason people wait. Also, insurance often penalizes (by paying less) for ER visits that turn out not to be emergencies. The thinking is that you should have gone to your doctor who’s booked-up six weeks out instead.
That tracks with a lot of what I’m hearing. Risking adverse outcomes by waiting until a condition becomes life threatening is a bit like playing Russian roulette, and with acute conditions it’s even worse. It’s maybe a bad analogy, but dentistry comes to mind - waiting until a cavity or tooth infection becomes severe can kill, even if it’s solved with surgery. It’s serious as serious can be, as much as people can’t afford the treatment, they can’t afford to walk a tightrope line where falling kills them.
If we wait until an injury or condition is imminently life-threatening then the hospital is legally obliged to treat regardless of an ability to pay and that’s one reason people wait. Also, insurance often penalizes (by paying less) for ER visits that turn out not to be emergencies. The thinking is that you should have gone to your doctor who’s booked-up six weeks out instead.
That tracks with a lot of what I’m hearing. Risking adverse outcomes by waiting until a condition becomes life threatening is a bit like playing Russian roulette, and with acute conditions it’s even worse. It’s maybe a bad analogy, but dentistry comes to mind - waiting until a cavity or tooth infection becomes severe can kill, even if it’s solved with surgery. It’s serious as serious can be, as much as people can’t afford the treatment, they can’t afford to walk a tightrope line where falling kills them.