Does having health insurance determine whether you live or die?

My nephew had a minor motorcycle accident and while his injuries are not life threatening, he was on a blood thinner that has kept him in the critical intensive care unit since the tuesday after Mother's Day, with kindey failure, the heart enlarging and a blood clot in one of his lungs. Well he has very good health insurance and his mother is a retired RN. My nephew is in one of the major trauma hospitals in central NJ and is fighting for his life. Since he has been in the ICU almost all of the patients that were there since he arrived and some that came after him have died. Many of them (because this is an inner city facility) have no health insurance and no family members that can be at the hospital 24/7. I honestly feel that if my nephew didn't have a constant family presence and the fact that my sister-in-law is a RN, he would have been dead days ago and would not have received the attention he has. What is your opinion?

My newphew suffered only a broken leg and broken wrist in the motor cycle accident it is the blood thinner that he was on that caused most of his critical problems. He sufferred another setback last night and is on dialysis 24/7, he is still critical. The family is still there and we are still praying and I thank all of you for your kind words, thoughts and prayers. God Bless.

So sorry to hear of your nephew's accident. I will be praying for his speedy and thorough recovery. Thank goodness this boy IS insured and that he has family and friends who love him and a mother with medical knowledge.

Sadly, there truly are countless children and adults who are un(der)insured, and who may not receive the same level of service that your nephew has received. However, if their situation is truly life threatening, then a hospital can NOT deny treatment (they must stabilze). If, however, their condition does NOT (quite literally) immediately threaten life or limb, the hospital can (and frequently does) deny treatment until suitable financial arrangements are secured.

For good or ill, the bottom line is that the all mighty dollar drives American healthcare.

One way to empower yourself in this situation, is to get involved by lobbying your congresspersons for any changes in health care that you think would have possibly benefited the children whose deaths you witnessed during your nephew's stay in the ICU. Perhaps, when your nephew has fully recovered, he would have an interest in joining you in your efforts, as well.

I agree with you completely! I will pray for you and your ENTIRE family.

you are seeing firsthand what happens if you don't have good insurance and family. So many Americans are without insurance. They also are without family. I'm glad you're nephew is getting the proper medical attention. Pray that something happens to improve the medical system in America.

I'm sorry 'bout your nephew. You just stated that he's in a critical intensive care unit---but that he's not in danger himself, but then you say he's fighting for his life. From his injuries, it does indeed sound like he's very, very sick. I wish him the best.

If he's not in danger, you have to remember that the other patients you are seeing are not there for the same reason--they HAVE life-threatening injuries. I want to say the mortality rate for ICUs is generally around 20%, but I'm not positive on that. So a large number of the people you see in an ICU will die there. "Almost all" is not normal--I'm hoping you're just missing people being transferred down to the regular floors---it's not like they'd tell you specifically why the beds were suddenly empty. I'm guessing this is probably what's happening.

Otherwise, studies have shown over the years that family support DOES make a difference in recovery from serious illness. And it easy to see how medical personnel in the family can help make a family member's care go smoother---they can spend more time helping the family make medical decisions by explaining fully, etc.

Having no health insurance and no family is not a good combination---not because of the health insurance, really---most major hospitals will get those patients out-of-danger, then give them crappy follow-up/post-critical care if they are going to slack on anything due to lack of insurance. If the insurance issue is actually affecting the ICU staff, that's very rare---ICU workers are a dedicated team, it takes a lot to do that job.

In all, I don't think that health insurance determines whether you live or die, at least not within the walls of the ICU--outside it, there's a different story. Having no family by your side may well make a difference, however.