17 year old dies of coronavirus after being denied treatment due to lack of insurance.

[Goonie]

Teen Who Died of Covid-19 Was Denied Treatment Because He Didn't Have Health Insurance

So urgent care, if you have money.

 

[civilwarbuff]

Teen Who Died of Covid-19 Was Denied Treatment Because He Didn't Have Health Insurance

So urgent care, if you have money.

If his parents took him to urgent care his symptoms must not have been serious. There is more to this story or his medical history than is printed here. All ERs (that accept federal dollars) are required to treat all patients arriving; they can't be turned away.

 

[SummerMadness]

If his parents took him to urgent care his symptoms must not have been serious. There is more to this story or his medical history than is printed here. All ERs (that accept federal dollars) are required to treat all patients arriving; they can't be turned away.

Of course, look for a way to blame people for their own deaths when seeking medical care because it's obvious their fault as opposed to the US healthcare system. This would not have happened in another developed nation.

 

[tampasteve]

There is more to this story or his medical history than is printed here.

THIS.

The article even says:
"but the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is reportedly evaluating the case to see if there’s another explanation for his death."
and the linked article says further:
"While the child did test positive for the coronavirus, there were “extenuating circumstances that pointed to an alternative diagnosis as well,” she said."

 

[JCFantasy23]

"“He didn’t have insurance, so they did not treat him,” Parris said in a video posted to YouTube. The staff at the urgent care facility told the teen to try the emergency room at Antelope Valley (AV) Hospital, a public hospital in the area, according to the mayor."

This is exactly what happens here and I've tried to explain this to people who keep saying hospitals have to treat you.

If you go to a hospital nearby that I prefer in Winter Haven, they said they have to admit life threatening to evaluate, but then do not have to treat you as long as you are not going to die right then - they refer you to a different hospital that does have to treat you (to a degree) because it's a different type of hospital - in this case, Lakeland Regional. A lot of people avoid Lakeland R because of the bad care and high death rate of going there. in fact, a co-worker who was on separate insurance than I was - if she ends up being taken by ambulance to this particular hospital, her insurance foots the bill to have her medically transported to another city hospital (Tampa usually) because the costs are too high associated with the errors, malpractice and accidental death rate of LRMC. That hospital can still refer you to go to regular care (another doctor) and not keep you in the hospital, however.

His story does not sound fishy to me at all

 

[SoldierOfTheKing]

If his parents took him to urgent care his symptoms must not have been serious. There is more to this story or his medical history than is printed here.

Health officials backtrack on coronavirus death of 17-year-old in California

Hours after announcing the first person under 18 to die from complications of coronavirus, California health officials are backtracking, saying the 17-year-old from Los Angeles County could have died from something else.

On Wednesday, county health officials said they would no longer include the boy’s death in the tally of coronavirus deaths until they know more information, according to the Associated Press.

 

[Hank77]

If his parents took him to urgent care his symptoms must not have been serious. There is more to this story or his medical history than is printed here. All ERs (that accept federal dollars) are required to treat all patients arriving; they can't be turned away.

Who said that this urgent care clinic accepted federal funds? If your child is suffering you take them to the closest place where they can get care, obviously this parent didn't know they couldn't get care there.

I remember back when Obamacare was being argued that there was a woman who's baby was seriously ill and she went to the closest hospital to her, they turned her away because she wasn't insured and the ambulance wouldn't transport her baby to the other hospital. By the time she got there through the traffic, the hospital couldn't save her baby.

 

[essentialsaltes]

Phew, I'm sooo relieved to hear that the teen who was refused medical treatment for lack of insurance might have died of something other than coronavirus.

 

[grasping the after wind]

The person did not die from lack of health insurance. He died from whatever condition killed him. I have been to urgent care facilities. It is unreasonable to think that he would have survived by being treated at an urgent care facility. Urgent care facilities are not there to treat life threatening diseases. Had the person been seen by an urgent care doctor, that doctor would have sent him to the emergency room. Except for the fact the person would probably have died at the urgent care facility before being seen by the doctor.

Just out of curiosity though who was it that decided this person did not need health insurance?

 

[essentialsaltes]

Just out of curiosity though who was it that decided this person did not need health insurance?

The Republican Party when it removed the mandate?

 

[GodsGrace101]

Of course, look for a way to blame people for their own deaths when seeking medical care because it's obvious their fault as opposed to the US healthcare system. This would not have happened in another developed nation.

How do YOU know what would have happened in another developed nation?
Which nation on earth is more developed than the U.S. ?

 

[grasping the after wind]

The Republican Party when it removed the mandate?

Illogical. No one needs to be forced to care about their own well being. I actually want the true answer.

 

[pitabread]

The fact that debates over health insurance are still even a thing in the U.S. is part of the underlying problem. The U.S. needs to join the rest of the developed world in implementing healthcare as a basic right for their citizens.

 

[grasping the after wind]

Phew, I'm sooo relieved to hear that the teen who was refused medical treatment for lack of insurance might have died of something other than coronavirus.

I think that pointing out inaccurate reporting is probably a reasonable thing to do. Especially when the entire article is a transparent attempt to lay blame where it does not belong. That's Gizmodo for you though.

 

[ChristianGirl_96]

Do you have a link to the article or not?

 

[dzheremi]

That is absolutely unconscionable.

I learned not to go to urgent care a few months ago when I was having strange chest pains (turned out to be other problems, thankfully) and they told me as soon as I got there they would be taking me to the ER by force (I did not have the right to refuse), since they're not equipped to handle heart problems. I'm pretty sure urgent care is just for things like sprained ankles, cuts, and other things that can be dealt with with bandages and painkillers. Anything virus-related or internal in that fashion should probably be dealt with in the ER, and ERs are literally not legally allowed to refuse service to anyone because they don't have insurance.

 

[essentialsaltes]

I think that pointing out inaccurate reporting

What inaccurate reporting?

"The Lancaster teen tested positive for covid-19, but the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is reportedly evaluating the case to see if there’s another explanation for his death. The initial cause of death was explained on Tuesday as septic shock from complications with covid-19."

 

[High Fidelity]

Who said that this urgent care clinic accepted federal funds? If your child is suffering you take them to the closest place where they can get care, obviously this parent didn't know they couldn't get care there.

This is arguably the most damning statement of the system so far.

If it's an emergency and the hospital has an ER, they should be able to.

It's absolutely insane to think you or your loved one may be in dire need of medical attention and you have to check whether you have insurance, whether X or Y hospital will accept your insurance etc. Absolutely insane.

 

[grasping the after wind]

What inaccurate reporting?

"The Lancaster teen tested positive for covid-19, but the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is reportedly evaluating the case to see if there’s another explanation for his death. The initial cause of death was explained on Tuesday as septic shock from complications with covid-19."

That paragraph refutes the headline of the article. The article headline says the death was caused by covid-19 . The paragraph provides a link that says the cause is yet to be determined. I would call contradicting oneself as being inaccurate.

From the link provided in the paragraph.

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles County health officials said Wednesday that they no longer are including a 17-year-old boy in the tally of coronavirus deaths until they do more to determine his precise cause of death.

The county’s public health director, Barbara Ferrer, said she’s asked the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to investigate the death of the teen from the Mojave Desert city of Lancaster.

While the child did test positive for the coronavirus, there were “extenuating circumstances that pointed to an alternative diagnosis as well,” she said.

The death is no longer being counted among LA County’s 13 total fatalities from the virus. The county has tallied 799 residents who have tested positive.

 

[JCFantasy23]

Anything virus-related or internal in that fashion should probably be dealt with in the ER, and ERs are literally not legally allowed to refuse service to anyone because they don't have insurance.

They have to see you, but if it something they rule needs follow-up with doctor or later surgery, not life-threatening, they do not have to offer the treatment there. They refer you to other care, then release you

Our local Urgent Care is part of our hospital; I was thinking of that instead of a separate clinic. It's a different branch of ER, although I'm sure there's associated clinics called the same thing nearby