Number of uninsured Americans dying prematurely may increase, report says
Advocacy group calls for healthcare reform
High medical costs may motivate uninsured Americans to forgo their health-related needs – until they land in the emergency room.
A recent report by USA Families showed that lack of healthcare reform may have dire consequences these individuals. About 275,000 people may die prematurely during the next 10 years, according to the report, with California, Texas and Florida experiencing the highest number of incidents.
USA Families executive directive Ron Pollack said that, despite its proximity, this problem remains invisible to most Americans. Unless the healthcare system is reformed, the number of uninsured non-elderly adults who die daily could increase from 68 now to 84 in 2010, according to the report.
“The grim reality is that the failure of Congress to pass health reform has deadly consequences,” Pollack said. “If Congress doesn’t move health reform across the finish line, we may continue to pay in tragic, unnecessary deaths for years to come.”
The report does not account for children who die because of lack of health insurance.
Census data shows that there are currently about 45.7 million Americans who did not have health insurance in 2007. This shows a decrease from the 47 million uninsured the previous year.
Posted: March 1, 2010
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