(KFF Health News) – Spinal cord injuries, strokes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and neurological diseases such as multiple sclerosis have left tens of thousands of Americans permanently dependent on ventilators. The barriers these patients face offer a stark example of how the United States’ disjointed health care system makes dealing with severe illness so much harder.

The investigation found patients are frequently stymied in efforts to get their insurers to provide appropriate home ventilators. They can end up spending hundreds of thousands of dollars for private nurses to make sure they don’t die overnight. Those who need to be in a nursing home or other health facility sometimes must move to another state, far from their families. (Read More)