Millions More Uninsured Could Impact Health Of Those With Insurance, Too
khn.org/news/millions-more-uninsured-could-impact-health-of-those-with-insurance-too/
From article:
That is mostly because it is difficult for health providers to maintain services in areas with large numbers of patients who cannot pay for care. “Those communities are less attractive for physicians and other health care providers to locate,” said Ayanian. “That affects access to care for everyone,” he said, particularly for critical but high-cost services like trauma care, burn care and neonatal intensive care.
The potential is not merely theoretical. Hospitals in sparsely populated areas, particularly in states that did not opt to expand the Medicaid program, have been cutting back services like maternity care or closing altogether in recent years. These are the same parts of the country that voted for President Donald Trump by large margins.
The impact is not just on availability of services. A 2007 study from researchers at the University of Pennsylvania in the journal Health Affairs found that in areas with many uninsured people, the quality of care was lower as well. Primary care doctors “reported that the higher the proportion of uninsured people in their community, the less likely they are to be able to refer their patients to high-quality specialists,” found the researchers. “Specialists also reported that the higher the community uninsurance rate, the less able they are to deliver high-quality care to their patients,” the study said.