Syracuse (WSYR-TV) -- Do people get better care in the emergency room when they have health insurance? Researchers followed children into the ER to find out.
Doctors from Children's Hospital in Boston examined more than 84,000 emergency room treatments for children over a ten year period.
They found that kids with public or no insurance received 25 percent less medication, testing or underwent fewer emergency room procedures, than those kids with private medical insurance.
But the results are different when children enter the emergency room with significant illnesses. In those instances, everyone received the same care and treatment, regardless of their insurance status.
One thing the study did not address was the reasons behind the insurance-based differences.
The results seem to indicate that children without private insurance are under-treated. But it could also mean that privately insured children are being over-treated.
