A burst appendix and insurance

Can there be a correlation? Perhaps, according to this retrospective study:

Compared with patients who had private insurance coverage, those on Medicare were 14 percent more likely to have a burst appendix, people on Medicaid were 22 percent more likely, and those with no insurance at all were 18 percent more likely to have a rupture. The differences persisted even after controlling for age, sex, socioeconomic status, type of hospital and other factors.

Related posts:

1. Removing the appendix: "Like flicking a bug off your shoulder"
2. Burst appendix, single-payer style
3. "Socioeconomic status is the strongest predictor of health"
4. What happens when you refuse insurance
5. Increasing copays will increase costs for health insurance companies in the long run
6. Treating the uninsured population
7. Health insurance like auto insurance?

Tagged as: hospital, Medicare, patient