With no insurance, broken arm becomes long ordeal

Emergency rooms in the United States are required to stabilize patients with life-threatening injuries.

But hospitals and doctors are not required to conduct tests, give chemotherapy, or do surgery on broken bones - "things that would hurt you slowly, or kill you slowly," the doctor said - if a patient doesn't have insurance or can't pay.

The surgeon said he was no health-policy expert. And changing the system would be complex.

But "there needs to be some basic coverage that everybody has, so nobody's put [out] in the cold," he said. "So you don't go home with an injury like this with no place to go."

What Went Wrong

Richard Hershman is sick and poor, partly, he said, because he abused drugs and did not lead a model life. When he slipped and broke his arm, he could not get surgery to repair it properly because he had no insurance.

So his bones set improperly, and six weeks later, when he finally had coverage, the surgeon had to re-break the bones, and reset them, because the arm had begun to heal improperly.

The case shows how uninsured people often experience delays in care because of their insurance status.

The Next Installment

Mary Gannon worked a new job, as a medical assistant temp, without health insurance. When she felt a lump in her groin, she paid out of pocket for initial testing and to have the lump removed. When she couldn't afford a $3,000 PET scan to determine the severity of her cancer, she had to wait until she was determined eligible for charity care or approved for medical assistance. She waited eight weeks, an extremely stressful and potentially dangerous delay.