BMJ  2008;336:855 (19 April), doi:10.1136/bmj.39549.693981.DB

News

More than 26 000 Americans die each year because of lack of health insurance

Janice Hopkins Tanne

1 New York

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Many more Americans die because of a lack of health insurance than previously thought, concludes a new state by state study by Families USA, a non-profit organisation that advocates health care for all Americans.

More than 26 260 Americans aged 25 to 64 died in 2006 because they lacked health insurance—more than twice as many as were murdered, Families USA said. In the seven years from 2000 to 2006 an estimated 162 700 Americans died because of lack of health insurance.

Families USA said, "The number of uninsured Americans reached 47 million in 2006, and it continues to rise. For many of the uninsured, the lack of health insurance has dire consequences. The uninsured face medical debt, often go without necessary care, and even die prematurely."

In 2002 the US Institute of Medicine estimated in its report Care Without Coverage: Too Little, Too Late that 18 000 adults aged 25 . . . [Full text of this article]


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