Drop in sudden cardiac arrests linked to Obamacare

[applegrove]

A before and after study of ACA reveals Republicans worst-nightmare, that health insurance saves lives

http://www.salon.com/2017/07/03/drop-in-sudden-cardiac-arrests-linked-to-obamacare_partner/

JENNY GOLD, KAISER HEALTH NEWS at Salon

"SNIP...............

A pilot study published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Heart Association may provide an answer: Researchers found that the rate of sudden cardiac arrest outside of a hospital dropped by 17 percent among people ages 45-64 in Multnomah County, Ore., after the Affordable Care Act expanded insurance coverage.

The study analyzed sudden cardiac arrest data from the emergency medical system in 2011-12 before the ACA, and compared the data from 2014-15, after insurance coverage expanded. During that time, the percentage of people in Multnomah County with Medicaid coverage nearly doubled, from 7 percent to 13.5 percent.

Cardiac arrest can serve as an early indicator to show how an increase in health insurance coverage under the ACA might affect mortality.


Each year, about 350,000 people in the United States have a sudden cardiac arrest, in which the heart unexpectedly stops beating. It is one of the most deadly types of heart attacks — only 1 in 10 patients survive it. “It speaks to the importance of predicting and preventing [cardiac arrest], because once it happens, it’s much too late,” said Dr. Sumeet Chugh, medical director of the Heart Rhythm Center of the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute in California and one of the authors of the study.


................SNIP"

[Ilsa]

1. I wonder if similar data represents other

geographic areas?
And I wonder what other deadly conditions are prevented or caught early because of the ACA?

[Isotope17]

2. It's a good start!

I would exercise caution here... both the study numbers and the time frame are quite small. Instinct tells us that outcomes should be positive, but variability within the scope of study could easily account for such a decline. Only long term trends will tell the tale here.

All that said, of course this is the right direction. Providing solid preventative care along with education is the most direct route to better outcomes. This study just doesn't show that empirically (yet).