Lack of Insurance Proves Fatal

Lack of health coverage lead to the premature death of 26,100 people in 2010, according to a study by Families USA. From 2005 to 2010, the number of people who died prematurely due to a lack of health coverage rose from 20,350 to 26,100 a year.
 States with the most premature deaths due to uninsurance in 2010 were
 California with 3,164 deaths, Texas with 2,955 deaths, Florida with 2,272 deaths, New York with 1,247 deaths, and Georgia with 1,161 deaths. The survey compared the uninsured to the insured:

• Uninsured adults are five times less likely to have a regular source of care than the insured (55% versus 11%).

• 51% of uninsured adults who tried to find a new primary care doctor in the past three years said it was somewhat difficult or very difficult, with 20% saying it was very difficult.

• 41% of the uninsured said that a doctor’s office or clinic would not accept them as a new patient.
• Uninsured adults are nearly four times as likely to delay or forgo a preventive care screening due to cost (36% versus 10%).
• Uninsured women over 50 are about half as likely to have gotten a mammogram in the past two years (42% versus 79%).
• Uninsured 50- to 64-year olds with incomes below 250% of the federal poverty level are five times less likely than insured people in the same age group to have gotten a colon cancer screening in the past five years (10% versus 50%.)
• Uninsured adults are more than six times as likely to go without needed care due to cost (26% versus 4%).
• Uninsured Cancer patients are more than five times as likely to delay or forgo cancer-related care because of medical costs (27% versus 5%).
• Uninsured adults are more likely to be diagnosed with a disease in an advanced stage. For example, uninsured women are substantially more likely to be diagnosed with advanced stage breast cancer than women with private insurance, as are uninsured people with colorectal cancer.
• Uninsured adults are at least 25% as likely to die prematurely.
• Uninsured patients can’t get the same discounts on hospital and doctor charges that the insurance companies get. As a result, uninsured patients are often charged more than 2.5 times what insured patients are charged for hospital services. Three out of five uninsured adults report having problems with medical bills or medical debt.

For more information, visit http://www.familiesusa.org/.