It's no surprise that people who lack health insurance often put off routine medical care. But a new study suggests that patients with financial difficulties will even delay seeking care in an emergency such as a heart attack.

The research, appearing in the Journal of the American Medical Association, examined some 3,700  patients in 24 U.S. hospitals between 2005 and 2008. Nearly half of uninsured patients waited more than 6 hours after the start of symptoms to arrive at the hospital, compared to 40 percent of insured patients. 

Even patients who had insurance -- but who were worried about money -- waited longer to seek care, the study found. 

In general, of patients who had insurance, but reported financial problems 83 percent said they avoided medical care, 56 percent said they didn't take medications and 13 percent said they had trouble getting health care services because of cost.

When it comes to treating cardiac arrest, time is everything.  "A victim's chance of survival is reduced 7 to 10 percent for every minute that passes without CPR or defibrillation," Dr. Leigh Vinocur, an emergency physician at the University of Maryland Medical Center, told me a few months ago for a story I wrote about a fatal house fire. "Few attempts are successful after 10 minutes or so."

The authors, of Tilburg University in the Netherlands and several research centers in the U.S., said the findings suggest that patients with concerns about money are also likely to delay seeking care for other common medical conditions.

AP photo