Shevlin Smith Blog

Study Finds Type Of Health Care Inusrance Affects The Quality Of Care Patients Receive

A recent New York study found a significant difference in the treatment received by patients based upon the type of health insurance coverage carried by the patient. The authors, who were from the Weil Cornell Medical Center in New York, examined treatment offered to patients suffering from an appendicitis. They found that patients who had health insurance through Medicare or Medicare were 14% and 22% more likely to suffer a ruptured appendix due to a delay in the performance of surgery as compared to patients who had private insurance. They also found that patients who had no health insurance were 18% more likely to suffer a ruptured appendix than patients who had private insurance. The differences persisted even after controlling for age, sex, socioeconomic status, type of hospital and other factors. The authors' findings were published last month in The Journal of the American College of Surgeons and were also recently published in the New York Times. Click here to read the New York Times article.