A new study finds that critically injured trauma patients without health insurance face a higher risk of having life-saving care withdrawn sooner compared to insured patients, highlighting stark disparities in U.S. healthcare.
Researchers analyzed data from over 300,000 adult trauma patients and found that after adjusting for patient and hospital factors, uninsured individuals had significantly earlier withdrawal of life-sustaining therapy compared to those with Medicaid or private insurance.
“Our study suggests that a patient’s ability to pay may be associated with a shift in decision-making for WLST,” said lead researcher Dr. Graeme Hoit of the University of Toronto.
The mean time to care withdrawal was 6.5 days for uninsured patients, compared to 8.9 days for Medicaid recipients and 7.8 days for privately insured patients.
These findings appear to contradict federal law requiring equal care regardless of insurance status. However, with uninsured trauma care costing U.S. hospitals an estimated $2.8 billion annually, financial pressures may be influencing critical decisions.
The study also revealed racial disparities, with withdrawal of care less common among Asian, Black and Hispanic patients compared to white patients.
Dr. Zara Cooper, a trauma surgeon not involved in the study, emphasized the need to examine potential biases in life-and-death decisions, noting that “having any insurance vs no insurance is more important than having public vs private insurance” in determining treatment withdrawal risk.
With 12% of American adults uninsured, these findings underscore the human cost of gaps in healthcare coverage, particularly for marginalized populations.
See “Trauma Patients Without Insurance Taken Off Life Support Sooner, Study Finds” (July 24, 2024)
