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Jun 19, 2019

New study finds 45,000 deaths annually linked to lack of health coverage

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, health

Nearly 45,000 annual deaths are associated with lack of health insurance, according to a new study published online today by the American Journal of Public Health. That figure is about two and a half times higher than an estimate from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) in 2002.

The study, conducted at Harvard Medical School and Cambridge Health Alliance, found that uninsured, working-age Americans have a 40 percent higher risk of death than their privately insured counterparts, up from a 25 percent excess death rate found in 1993.

“The uninsured have a higher risk of death when compared to the privately insured, even after taking into account socioeconomics, health behaviors, and baseline health,” said lead author Andrew Wilper, M.D., who currently teaches at the University of Washington School of Medicine. “We doctors have many new ways to prevent deaths from hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease — but only if patients can get into our offices and afford their medications.”

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  1. I think the most important function of insurance is to provide protection against future risk, accident, and uncertainty.It is one check the reality of the misfortune happening and pays the cost of damages of losses.

  2. We were just talking about this and I would have to agree that getting travel insurance is a must for international trips. It is so hard and expensive to get sick abroad. I just shared your post to my other travel buddies.

  3. shiza says:

    We already had a kid, but I wanted my step daughter on my insurance. I originally approached him to get paperwork for a common law marriage, and my husband said if we were going to get paperwork, why not just get married. And 4 years after we got married, he made a big deal of proposing to me and giving me an engagement ring. It was good stuff.401k

  4. carry says:

    I think the most important function of insurance is to provide protection against future risk, accident, and uncertainty.It is one check the reality of the misfortune happening and pays the cost of damages of losses.annuity