People dying every day because they don't have health insurance
Did you know that not having health insurance can be fatal? (See our Blog, Feb 22, 2008). Every day dozens of people across the country are dying because they don't have health insurance. Now for the first time you can see exactly how many on a state-by-state basis. This month the national non-profit group, Families USA, has been releasing a series of reports putting a figure to the number of deaths which could have been avoided had the individuals had health insurance coverage.
In Ohio, two residents per day are said to die because they don't have health insurance: Akron Beacon Journal (Mar 28, 2008). In Virginia the number is ten every week: The Virginian-Pilot (Mar 20, 2008). Iowa reports three deaths per week: Des Moines Register (Mar 21, 2008). There are five per week in Wisconsin: Wausau Daily Herald (Mar 25, 2008) and an average of one every day in Colorado: Denver's KRDO (Mar 25, 2008).
The study reveals:
- Across the U.S. in 2006, twice as many people die from a lack of health insurance as died from homicide
- Uninsured adults are more than 30 percent less likely than insured adults to have had a checkup in the past year
- Uninsured Americans are more than three times as likely as insured adults to delay seeking medical care
- Uninsured adults are 25 percent more likely to die prematurely than adults with private health insurance
- Three out of five uninsured adults under the age of 65 reported having problems with medical bills
Not having health insurance can lead to dire consequences, most notably medical debt, missed care and premature death.
Pre-existing condition? May as well be fast track to the morgue
There are many contributing factors as to why 47 million Americans are uninsured - though it doesn't help when those that could afford insurance are denied due to a pre-existing condition. A congressional bill is on the table intended to reduce the instances when an insurer can refuse to cover pre-existing conditions. The Hartford Courant (Mar 21, 2008) highlights a Connecticut woman's struggle as a diabetic, turned down by all insurers she approached until resorting to a state program costing over $1,200 per month.
1 out of 3 prefer no medical help to medical debt
On the flipside, 30 percent of those eligible for health insurance simply can't afford it, and actively choose to skip medical care because of the cost. This is the conclusion from a survey of 26,000 reported in the Chicago Sun-Times (Mar 26, 2008). The majority of those questioned were employed and nearly all acknowledged they were "somewhat or very concerned about being able to afford insurance." In addition, 53 percent of Medicare recipients said their prescriptions are not covered or are unaffordable and 63 percent spent more than $1,000 on healthcare in 2007.
Our law enforcement should no doubt be proud of keeping fatalities to half those claimed by being uninsured.
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