In The ER, Kids Waiting Longer To Get Care

Flooding Emergency Rooms With Advanced Conditions; Parents Can't Pay Rising Healthcare Costs

(CBS)  The economic crisis has devastated many Americans, and now it may be threatening the health of one of our greatest resources -- our children.

As part of a network-wide special series "CBS Reports: Children of the Recession," Early Show medical correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton went to ground zero of this crisis: the emergency room.

In Cleveland, Dr. Edward Barksdale, chief of pediatric surgery at the Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital, told Ashton the emergency room is busier than as people wait to seek care.

"Our volumes in the emergency room are up," he told Ashton. "I think we're also seeing diseases in their later stages."

Too many patients, he said, can’t go to the doctor’s office, and end up coming to the ER instead, like 15-year-old Chris Osborne, who has asthma.

"We went in for a doctor’s appointment," Osborne said, "and couldn't go because of a bill that we had to pay so -- that's why we're here now."

Osborne had a large lung cyst removed last year. Since Chris’s father was laid off from his sheet metal job, his family struggles to afford health care -- and has delayed getting care for Chris.

"The cyst that I had, it's a cyst that can grow back if I don't have follow-ups through college, so it could affect me if I'm not here today," he said.

Nationwide, 44 percent of children’s hospitals are reporting increases in ER visits this year, according to the National Association of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions. At Rainbow Babies and Children’s in Cleveland, she said, traffic is up in the ER, yet the population of children in northeast Ohio is down.

But babies sluch as Hailey Sarubbi, who was born at 23 weeks and weighs just over a pound, are struggling to survive -- just like their parents.

Sarubbi’s mother went into premature labor after working seven days-a-week to make ends meet.

"If a mother has to work extra hours, who has a high risk pregnancy, we are increasing the burden of health and disease," Barksdale said, "but not maximizing the potential of children."

Sarubbi’s mother hopes her daughter’s treatment will be covered by Medicaid.

But the latest data from The Children’s Defense Fund shows that one-in-nine children lacks health insurance coverage.

That was the case for 17-year-old Teauna Boysaw, who didn’t have health coverage when she came into the ER, doubled over from pain from an infected pilonidal cyst.

"This (cyst) has been bothering her for like two weeks now," Boyshaw’s mother Tara Hagar said. " ...I tried, you know, putting warm compresses -- we tried the home remedies, you know? But it wasn't working. It wasn't working at all."

Hagar, who is a nursing assistant, couldn’t afford the $550 monthly fee to insure her children.

"If we had insurance, we could have gone to the doctor; he could have given her some antibiotics, and maybe it could have been cured," Hagar said. "Now, it's gotten further to where she had to have surgery again. ...It’s really hard."

Boysaw said, "I hate to see my mother crying, and I hate to see her struggling. ...I'm scared to grow up, because I don't really want to struggle, but I know I'm going to have to just to make it."

Barksdale, who is working 15-hour days -- nearly 90 hours a week -- said he has to be an advocate for children in this recession, waging war against disease and the recession.

"I think of myself as being a warrior for children," he said, "and children don't have the voice that adults have."

Our special coverage continues Tuesday night on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, as we explore the psychological impact of the recession on children.

[Ankhorite]

Wow, the racism of these remarks!! Non-documented aliens have to be given health care because if they aren't, whatever contagious diseases they have will spread to the general population. (And that's aside from simple humanitarian reasons, like not forcing women to deliver children on the sidewalk in front of the ER.) Both our immigration policies and our health care policies need to be overhauled to address this sensibly. Obama's working on it; the health care plan should be done by the end of summer 2009.

Meanwhile, folks, try to think of solutions that will actually WORK instead of raging about how underpaid aliens who are being cheated of health care by their employers are inconveniencing YOU. Your problem isn't with them: it's with the employers who hire them, but won't give them health care.

[thrush6]

The situation is going to get a LOT worse in Calif. because Propositions 1A,1B, 1C. were voted down in the election. They were quick-fix measures to come up with more money to keep the state from going bankrupt in a few weeks. The voters didn't want to give more money to the schools to educate illegals, and at this point everybody knows that the Calif. state budget is hopeless. High school guidance counselors should tell illegals not to waste their money on college, because it's pointless. No employer can ever hire them.

[GillRay]

If you are concerned about trends impacting children's heatlh due to the recession then you should be very worried about how children will fare in health reform. Congress is developing legislation right now that will imact the health and health care of ALL children. Go to the Web stie speaknowforkids.org and tell Congress why you care about children in health reform. If we adults don't speak up on their behalf, who will?

[TheTruthDetective]

Long? Long? You Democrats haven't seen anything yet. Just wait until Obama passes this National health care catastrophe that you demons voted for. You demons will be standing in line with a serious issue and have to wait for little Tyrone because he has a cold. Hey, that's what you Obama voters were crying over when this freak won soooooo get in line behind 40 people who have the same health care coverage as you. Oh, and good luck with that brain surgery from that $30,000 dollar a year government paid "Doctor" that went through school due to affirmative action and grants.

[sam-kiley]

bonjour,
pardonnez moi, mais moi ce que je n'arrive pas a comprendre, comment sefait-il que l'impact de la crise économique soit aussi brutal, le declin face a cette crise économique aux usa (en particulier) a été rapide, pourquoi..???? et les familles américaines de classe moyenne en souffrent deja, mais alors qu'en est-il des sans emplois (chomeurs),
la crise économique a certes touché tous les pays du monde, mais qu'elle soit aussi palpable aux USA c'est incroyable.

[gravyboat45]

Any Er room you go is filled with Illegal Aliens a American citizens has to wait hours while the invading Illegal are served than you are charged triple to help off set the free medical care the Illegals receive! Something is very wrong in the Nation when invading criminals have more rights and treated better than American citizens!
Posted by american_11-2009

I've worked in hospitals all my adult life, that's a lie, and I'm in a border town!

[gravyboat45]

The reason they are waiting so long is people, allot of them illegals, are going to the ER for minor things that could be dealt with by the family doctor or at home by someone with basic first aid skills.
Posted by mrcrosbyll

A racist, and a moron.

[gravyboat45]

Just tell the ER personel that your name is Jose Perez. Yes, i am a blue eyed, blond hair mexcan. If you doubt me, you are profiling which would be violating my rights, since I am illegal and don't really have any right to be here, but I have all the rights in the world. I even have the right to free health care which legal citizens don't. See, I have more rigts than someone who did not break the law to get into this country or was born here. Americans are saps
Posted by mrcrosbyll

You are such a racist POS.

[inachu1]

Years ago back when I broke my hand then went to er and I sat there for 45 minutes.

[dragyn30]

We lost one of our hospitals here in NJ because of the parasitic illegals breeding and using the ER as their personal medical facility. You see them lined up a man and a woman, not here legally but they have 6 kids all under the age of five and they did not pay a dime for them.

We need to send them all home, they may have been born here, but their parents were not here legally so we should have no obligations to make them citizens by default - de fault of the immigration office who refuses to act and send these parasites home!!!!

[american_11-2009]

Any Er room you go is filled with Illegal Aliens a American citizens has to wait hours while the invading Illegal are served than you are charged triple to help off set the free medical care the Illegals receive! Something is very wrong in the Nation when invading criminals have more rights and treated better than American citizens!

[credibility2]

Unfortunately, those who should be going to a doctor's office wait until they think it's an emergency and then clog up the system diminishing the quality of health care for everyone. If people don't have health insurance, let them go to their local free clinic or those community-based health facilities that charge based on ability or ask for donations. Another problem is the undocumented illegal aliens burdening our system, especially with their kids they had here just so they could get on the taxpayer funded government dole.

[Healthy_Families_SCHIP]

Insurance Options are available to children through the State Children's Health Insurance Program.

In California, Healthy Families offers health, medical and dental coverage from $4 to $17 a month.

Families can also get assistance with the healthy families application through insuringkids.com and other community based organizations.

Families in other States can use insurekidsnow.gov for information in their local communities.

[tbbaot]

Take the illegals and the crowd that uses the ER as their personal doctors office out of the mix and our kids won't have to wait so long. Many of the large hospital ER's have had to close because of the rules that mandate they have to treat illegals and non-emergencies. Give them the power to do a doctor referral for the freeloaders who are not sick.

[budmag06]

Oh, my!!! Babies are going to die!!! Those evil insurance companies!!!

As Obama prepares his socialist health care bill to make the US health care system feeble and second rate, CBS pushes pushes propaganda on infants waiting for treatment. I hate to tell the socialists that NO infant is denied or has to wait long for treatment in the US. Liberals will believe anything and are quick to condemn without thinking.
Can you imagine the lawsuits if a baby is denied treatment for any reason in the US???

[Dgunner]

The hypocratical oath: first line: I will do no harm. Isn't refusing to to treat a child doing harm? I wouldn't want my child seeing a doctor that won't treat a child because of inability to pay. I truly hope God is taking names. They are blessed with the IQ to heal and charge for thier gift. Also where are the childrens hospitals? Do these state not have a ST. JUDES foundation in thier area??

[presjfk]

Those against universal health care use the word rationing. Well this is rationing, having health care only available to millions when illness becomes so severe they are forced to go the the ER. At that point the government picks up the bill anyway, only now its much more expensive because its not a sore throat, its pneumonia, its not a scrape its an infection, its not a normal pregnancy, its now life threatening. Get the idea? This is an expensive and cruel way to make health care available to those who cannot afford it.

And its not just the poor! If this happens to, the middle class person who can't afford health insurance or the co-pays and deductibles can go bankrupt, lose their house, life savings, everything just for going to the hospital for a few days.

In the end universal healthcare will come. In the end it will be overwhelmingly due to the greed and mismanagement of the industry that brings this down on their heads. Don't blame socialists or the poor, blame health insurance companies, hospitals, pharma, doctors and the like. You are bringing this on yourselves!