Lack of Health Insurance Dangerous for Your Health

There is always a lot of debate among doctors about how much health care is too much health care, and are patients being subjected to needless and expensive examinations and procedures with no real benefit. Even opponents of health care reform which seeks to provide health insurance to the 40 million plus Americans without health insurance complain that the uninsured use hospital ERs and that the constitution does not provide a "right" for health care.

However, a recent Harvard study suggests that perhaps 45,000 deaths a year can be linked to a lack of health care insurance. Most physicians would agree that access to health care should be a universal right and that the United States government should provide health care to its neediest citizens. However, this recent Harvard study may give another impetus for health care reform: that a staggering number of Americans die each year due to a lack of health insurance. This is an insidious disaster many times worse than the 9/11 tragedy.

Part of the reason why a lack of health care insurance may lead to a large number of deaths each year is that doctors have gotten better at treating common disorders such as elevated blood cholesterol, due to both better medications and also newer screening protocols. While you may be able to live a relatively healthy life for decades, eventually your lack of preventive care could shave years, or even decades, off of your life.

While some may not be swayed by humanitarian sentiments to help save some of the 45,000 who die each year due to a lack of health care insurance, certainly the economic impact of having 45,000 Americans of all ages die each year due to a lack of health insurance is staggering. Each of these Americans might have been able to have become a valuable and productive members of society had their lives not been cut short. The study faced some limitations, including the fact that some Americans without health insurance simply care less about their health. However, this likely does not account for the majority of the Americans without health insurance who would most likely utilize health care services if it was provided to them in a low cost manner.

It is important to remember that while uninsured Americans can receive emergency care at a hospital for life threatening injuries, that the lack of health insurance does lead to a large number of Americans dying each year. Hopefully Congress will take note and pass legislation which will help to provide lost cost health insurance to millions of Americans who could greatly benefit from regular health care.

Sources:

Harvard Study: 45,000 deaths linked to a lack of insurance

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