Uninsured Pay With Lives
A recent report issued by the Urban Institute, “Uninsured and Dying Because of It: Updating the Institute of Medicine Analysis on the Impact of Uninsurance on Mortality”, describes costs for individuals in the U.S. who are living without health insurance coverage. In addition to the rising costs for healthcare in the U.S. shared by all payors, patients, and healthcare facilities, patients without health insurance are dying unnecessarily (pdf).
A 2002 report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) indicates that 18,000 deaths in the U.S. during 2000 resulted because those individuals did not have health insurance coverage. Extrapolations of this data, combined with updated rates of the uninsured obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau indicate that approximately 22,000 patients died during 2006 secondary to their lack of health insurance coverage.
The Urban Institute team evaluated existing data to determine the rate of morbidity in this population of persons who are without health coverage. Data collected since the completion of the IOM report validates, particularly Health and Retirement Survey data, the relationship between mortality and a lack of health insurance. However, the rate of mortality in these cases may be higher than initially estimated.
The report notes that between 2000 and 2006, over 137,000 patients died because of their lack of health insurance. The actual number could be as high as 165,000 deaths during that time period. Importantly, the Urban Institute notes that these deaths could have been prevented. As well, these are estimates as final mortality data is not yet available from the National Center for Health Statistics.
The Urban Institute report notes that mortality is the most severe consequence for uninsured persons and the aforementioned report focused primarily on that outcome. However, other consequences are noteworthy including increased morbidity, decreased quality of life, lost wages, and an overall increased financial burden for the entire healthcare system.
January 14, 2008 Related topics: Ethics & Scandals, Trends, Partnerships & Consortia, Quality, Safety, Errors