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

doi:10.1136/bmj.39549.693981.DB

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 insurancethan previously thought, concludes a new state by state studyby Families USA, a non-profit organisation that advocates healthcare for all Americans.

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

Families USA said, "The number of uninsured Americans reached47 million in 2006, and it continues to rise. For many of theuninsured, the lack of health insurance has dire consequences.The uninsured face medical debt, often go without necessarycare, and even die prematurely."

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

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