Thursday, September 17, 2009

NEW HARVARD STUDY IN NYT LINKS 45,000 DEATHES PER YEAR TO LACK OF INSURANCE AND ADEQUATE HEALTH CARE.....


{{ Snippet of Article- rest linked to the title}}::::
"Harvard Medical Study Links Lack of Insurance to 45,000 U.S. Deaths a Year
By REED ABELSON
As the White House and Congress continue debating how best to provide coverage to tens of millions of Americans currently without health insurance, a new study (PDF) is meant to offer a stark reminder of why lawmakers should continue to try. Researchers from Harvard Medical School say the lack of coverage can be tied to about 45,000 deaths a year, in the United States — a toll that is greater than the number of people who die each year from kidney disease.

“If you extend coverage, you can save lives,” said Dr. Steffie Woolhandler, a professor of medicine at Harvard who is one of the study’s authors. The research is being published in the December issue of the American Journal of Health and was posted online Thursday.

The Harvard study found that people without health insurance had a 40 percent higher risk of death than those with private health insurance — as a result of being unable to obtain necessary medical care. The risk appears to have increased since 1993, when a similar study found the risk of death was 25 percent greater for the uninsured."
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Earlier I posted that the Urban Institute estimated that the Number of UnInsured Deathes 18,000-22,000 per year, 179,000 Since 2001. This new study is very interesting- I will research more on it.
This number does not include the 25-50 Million that are UnInsured and lacking care, or the 500,000 per year that are Fighting Cancer with NO Healthcare that was already capped or cancelled.
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My earlier post of the week about Mortality Stats on UnInsured. ( I have done 4-5 this month alone, let me know if you need the other studies- email me).

8 comments:

tom said...

There you go using facts again, only us folk in the reality world will get it, the goofballs at the 9/12 rally don't really care about facts, check out the former evangelical Rachel had on, he says they are all certifiable and we should ignore them! Sounds like good advice to me!!!
Now for the other 65% of us, these facts will help us GET actual healthcare...
TomInSeattle

Fran said...

I am glad they are publishing these studies in a timely way.
I remember looking into the eyes of people @ our town hall meeting.... I held a sign that readL

GOT COMPASSION?

54 million Americans without health care

It was interesting to see obvious teabaggers read the sign & get this sheepish look....
like for a moment there they thought they had not put compassion in the equation at all.

How does a society become so cold & cruel to ignore this basic & important need?

enigma4ever said...

well...tom,....
Florence Nightingale used statistics to get the Soldiers Clean Water and toilets and supplies during a way- she shoved them in the military's face....

sometimes you gotta shove them in Someone's Face...damnit..

So you know if I post it- I know Someone will share it with Someone...

enigma4ever said...

ooops bumped into there fran..
Thank you for carrying that sign....
good...
we have to help people finding their compass...
the Moral Code...

damn...
that is what we are trying to do...

D.K. Raed said...

It's a crime. Worse yet, it's a preventable crime. Fran's sign said it all: when did our nation become so cold, so lacking in compassion, that we would allow people to die for no other reason than that there wasn't enough profit in their lives for the health insurance companies.

Unknown said...

So true but so sad, I really hope something is done about this to help the U.S as a whole.

the walking man said...

Want health care reform? Reform that covers everyone? the you better start to work on the executive compensation reform, the for profit from misery industry and lobbyist reform just to start. Until theses issues are taken up and dealt with there will be no real reform.

Tax the health care industry out of existence and there will be enough money in the economy to supply true health care for every American.

Frank Partisan said...

I saw a screening yesterday of Michael Moore's new movie. He was there in person.

He mentioned the statistics you posted.

Warning: The movie makes fun of Cleveland.