Fact Sheet: New Study Shows 45,000 People Die Each Year Because They Lack Health Insurance

HOUSE SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI

September 18, 2009

NEW STUDY SHOWS 45,000 PEOPLE DIE EACH YEAR BECAUSE THEY LACK HEALTH INSURANCE

According to a new Harvard study released yesterday, an estimated 45,000 people in the United States die every year - one every 12 minutes - because they lack health insurance coverage. The urgent need for health insurance reform has never been so clear.

Indeed, we lose more Americans every day due to lack of health insurance than drunken driving and homicide combined.

SELECTED FINDINGS FROM THE STUDY

* As many as 45,000 people in the U.S. die every year as a result of being uninsured.

* Uninsured adults under 64 years old have a 40 percent higher risk of dying than those with health care coverage.

* The uninsured are:

* More likely to go without needed care than the insured;

* More likely to visit the emergency room and be admitted to the hospital with preventable illnesses;

* Less likely to receive preventive and primary care because they lack a source of regular health care

The cost of emergency care for 46 million uninsured Americans is passed on to Americans who are insured. The average American family of four with health insurance pays more than $1,000 each year in extra health care costs to subsidize this uncompensated, and often costly, care.

America's Affordable Health Choices Act guarantees Americans will have access to affordable, high quality health care. This critical legislation will dramatically reduce the number of uninsured Americans - improving the health and wellbeing of millions of individuals and bringing down the skyrocketing cost of health care for all Americans - as well as saving lives.

The Harvard study in the news:

* New York Times, Harvard Medical Study Links Lack of Insurance to 45,000 U.S. Deaths a Year

* Reuters, Study Links 45,000 U.S. Deaths to Lack of Insurance

* ABC News, Uninsured More Likely to Die, Study Finds