Category: Medical Prescription

Teens with a diagnosis of autism are four times as likely to present at an Emergency Room, than their neurotypical counterparts.

Penn State College of Medicine conducted a study, between 2005 and 2013 into the insurance claims for healthcare, of individuals aged between 12 and 21 years of age.

What they found was that only 3% of adolescents and young adults who were either not considered autistic or at least, had not been diagnosed as being within the autistic spectrum, visited an Emergency Room in that period.

However, when looking at the percentages for teenagers and young people with autism, that number had jumped from the same rate as their neurotypical peers of 3% in 2005, to 16% in 2013.

It was found that there had not been an increase in the rates of diagnoses in the study period. To make sure that the individuals documented in the study had not been wrongly diagnosed, all the participants in the study had received at least two diagnoses of autism.

Additionally, the reasons for a visit to the Emergency Room increasingly incorporated ones of behavioral issues or a mental health crisis.

With the onset of adolescence, self harming behaviors and other mental health issues can present themselves in all teens. However, it is specifically the young people with an autistic spectrum diagnosis who were presenting the most at the Emergency Room with these issues.

In fact, at the end of the time of the study period, in 2013 22% of these visits to the Emergency Room were for some aspect of mental health and other behavioral concerns.

At the beginning of the study, these had only accounted for 12% of all admissions.

Other common reasons for admissions were gastro intestinal problems, including nausea, pain etc and then also conditions such as epilepsy.

Then there were other issues such as ear infections, which presented as a frequent reason for a visit to the Emergency Room.

Other findings of the study revealed that it was the teens on the older end of the study group, who accounted for the higher number of visits to the Emergency Room.

The 18-21 age group of autistic young persons accounted for the highest percentage of visits – at 30%, whilst the more junior end 12-14 made up only 10%.

The study also found that girls and young women with autism were disproportionately likely visit the Emergency Room, than were males.

Teens living in a rural area were also more likely to require the Emergency Room than those living in more urban places.

The study’s authors have concluded that this spike in admissions and visits to the Emergency Room have a strong correlation with the absence of services, for this age group as they enter adolescence.

Although the condition itself may lead to increased problems with some mental health issues in later adolescence, this alone does not explain the study’s findings.

In many cases, the reasons for the admission to emergency care should have been able to be dealt with by a family doctor.

These figures seem to suggest that there is an issue with adolescents with autism being able to seek appropriate care, from their primary care team.

It’s “complicated” according to Donald Trump and at Ouviste.com we cannot argue with this statement!

The president’s comments came over the issue of healthcare and exactly what his plans were going to be, for the replacement of Obamacare.

This week, the president unveiled his plans to utilize a tax credit based system, to allow people to buy their own insurance policies.

The speech he gave to congress on Tuesday, was the first time that he has expressed agreement for the Republican solution to what should replace Obamacare.

But not all Republicans are as happy with this solution, as many on the conservative end of the party would have preferred the repeal of the ACA to go further.

This strand of Republican thought would rather have had tax deductions being made, for the buying of health insurance, than a system of tax credits. So, despite the apparent good reception to president Donald Trump’s announcement, a storm may well be brewing in Republican HQ.

The repealing of the ACA is something that its instigators are naturally against and for the 21 million Americans reliant on Obamacare, this is a worrying time.

The president has promised to maintain the level of cover given to those Americans currently benefitting from Obamacare, but has not given exact details of how this will be achieved.

It is also hard to see how he can marry this together with appeasing those Republicans who wish to see the end to the expansion of the Medicaid program and for tax deductions, not tax credits to be the central tenet in any new health care plan.

Trump is apparently keen for people to be able to purchase their own healthcare arrangements and not have a plan ‘forced on them’ by the state.

Under a leaked copy of the Republican plans for the replacement of the ACA which it seems that Donald Trump is green lighting, there are of course, winners and losers.

At a glance, it would seem that the winners in this scheme, if this is what eventually happens, are senior citizens with more advanced health needs.

If this is the case, this could be good news for a 55 year old needing to receive care for several health conditions.

The issue of continuous care has also been a bone of contention, when it comes to replacement of Obamacare.

This means the practice of insurers placing a penalty on high risk individuals, who have allowed their health care to elapse.

Although, like Obamacare, the plans do not allow insurers to refuse cover to individuals based on how ill they are, they may still be subject to having to pay more for health insurance, if they have let it lapse. However, the penalties are not as harsh as they were under previous drafts.

And the losers? They are more likely to be the young, with the tax credit allowances being less than half for someone aged under 35, than for those over 51.

But until more is announced, no one will know for sure how the plans will work out and the devil is always in the detail.