Uninsured Often Punished by Death

Countries with universal healthcare

In keeping with last week’s health insurance theme, a study published in The Journal of Public Health and summarized by ABC, says that if you lack health insurance you are almost twice as likely to die as someone with health insurance coverage.  The ABC article online drew almost 200 comments but really highlights what many already believe.  If you lack health insurance, you are much more likely to suffer a bad outcome than your neighbor with health insurance.  There are some people that claim that easy access to health care actually increases the odds of death, but that is a hard pill to swallow.  Perhaps if you really take charge of your diet and lifestyle and stay away from hospitals, you will be more likely to live.  But for the majority of people who just go through life eating what they want and unconcerned with lifestyle, having access to health insurance does seem to predict a better outcome.

From the article:

After adjusting for factors such as obesity, exercise habits, alcohol use, and smoking status, researchers determined those without insurance were 40 percent more likely to die. The new finding suggests that being uninsured is more hazardous to the health than previously thought.  The Institute of Medicine has said that having insurance improves health because it allows people to get medical care when they need it, to have a regular source of care, and to have continuity of coverage.  Despite widespread acknowledgment that enacting universal coverage would be life saving, doing so remains politically thorny,” the study authors said.