By Suzanne Hoholik
The Columbus Dispatch
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Medical experts say it’s best to go quickly to the nearest hospital if you experience chest pains.
But a national study found that the uninsured and those with insufficient health insurance are likely to delay emergency care for a heart attack for more than six hours because of the costs.
The American Heart Association recommends that hospitals also move quickly to screen patients to see whether they’re having a full-blown heart attack. The association recommends that hospitals meet a goal of restoring blood flow within 90 minutes. Some heart experts think the goal should be an hour.
Researchers found that 49 percent of uninsured people and 45 percent of the underinsured put off care despite having symptoms of a heart attack, according to the study recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. By comparison, 39 percent of insured patients delay care.
Researchers interviewed 3,721 heart-attack patients over three years at 24 hospitals across the country.
“These findings underscore important consequences from inadequate health-care insurance coverage for the substantial number of individuals in the United States experiencing” heart attacks, the researchers wrote.
They added that efforts to educate the public about heart attacks have little effect if health-insurance coverage is insufficient.
“If anybody doubts that we needed national health-care reform, this study should put it to rest,” said Cathy Levine, executive director of the Universal Health Care Action Network of Ohio, an advocacy group.
“People with inadequate health coverage are risking their lives.”
Dr. William Abraham, director of Ohio State University Medical Center’s cardiovascular-medicine program, knows that money plays a role in some patients’ decisions.
“Several years ago, a 31-year-old man came into the emergency department with a heart attack,” he said. “He was uninsured and refused to be admitted to the hospital. He went home and died.
“Until we can take the economic factor out of this, I think we’ll see people make bad decisions about their health care.”
And the costs are everywhere.
With local governments trying to improve general funds, an ambulance ride to a hospital can cost several hundred dollars.
Still, officials with the Columbus Division of Fire, which collected $14.3 million last year through ambulance billing, don’t want heart-attack victims to wait to call or worry about costs.
“For our guys, their primary concern is taking care of the patients and providing the best care possible,” said Battalion Chief Dave Whiting. “Those who EMS bill, it’s after the fact.”
The same goes for hospitals.
“Hospitals have discounts, hospitals have charity care policies; there are ways to figure out payments,” said Tiffany Himmelreich, spokeswoman for the Ohio Hospital Association.
Vicki Meyer, 67, suffered two heart attacks 20 years apart. In both cases, bystanders called 911. She advises other heart-attack victims not to put off care.
“People should call a squad right away, especially if you’re having chest pains,” the Downtown resident said. “They can get you right in. You shouldn’t wait.”
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