Insurance status and heart attack, many patients not seeking needed help

By Candy Lashkari

The signs of a cardiac arrest may exist but if you are under insured or not insured there is good chance that you may not undertake the recommended life saving actions of getting professional help as soon as you can.

This is what a study of 3,721 patients during the period of 2005 to 2008 found. The study published in the Journal of American Medical Association on Tuesday said that this delay will be costly not just for the patients but also for the nation.

"Patients concerned over their ability to pay for treatment, who delay seeking care, are putting themselves at dire risk," said Dr. Ralph Brindis, president of the American College of Cardiology.

According to the findings of the study 36.6% patients who suffered acute myocardial infarction and had insurance came into the hospital’s emergency department within 2 hours of the onset of symptoms. While only 27.5% of uninsured patients arrived at the hospital within two hours. 48.6% of the uninsured patients waited at least 6 hours before going to the hospital while only 39.3% with insurance waited that long.

"I think it's a wake-up call," said Dr Paul Chan, a cardiologist with St. Luke's Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City, Mo. "The affordability of care despite having insurance is going to be an increasingly larger problem as the lack of insurance becomes less of an issue."

Patients in America, who are more worried about creating a medical bill that they can ill afford rather than their health, are creating more problems for themselves in the future. Delaying medical attention for a heart attack makes it more likely for the patients to be again hospitalized for other heart problems including ongoing chest pains called angina and cardiac failure.

“Even for those with the security blanket of insurance, it wasn’t always enough,” said researcher Paul Chan, “They knew they could get care, but there was no guarantee they could afford it. You can just imagine what it was like for the uninsured.”

Patients who ignore signs like breaking out into a sweat, pressure in the chest, pain radiating through the arms and torso, short breath and general queasiness will do themselves a favor by reaching the hospital as soon as they can. No matter what the financial ramifications are for a false alarm. In such cases early medical treatment can literally mean the difference between life and death.