Uninsured E.R. patients twice as likely to die

A recurring talking point of the anti-health care right is that the uninsured don't need insurance because "our emergency rooms don't turn anyone away, so anyone can get emergency care".

Ignoring the obvious question of 'where does that money come from, the health fairy?' for a minute (no Barney Frank jokes, either, please), this article makes a startling find: uninsured patients are twice as likely to die in emergency rooms.

(MSNBC/AP)

Uninsured patients with traumatic injuries, such as car crashes, falls and gunshot wounds, were almost twice as likely to die in the hospital as similarly injured patients with health insurance, according to a troubling new study.

The findings by Harvard University researchers surprised doctors and health experts who have believed emergency room care was equitable.

"This is another drop in a sea of evidence that the uninsured fare much worse in their health in the United States," said senior author Dr. Atul Gawande, a Harvard surgeon and medical journalist.

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