Uninsured are at a Disadvantage

Almost 41 million people in the United States lack health insurance, more than the populations of Texas, Florida and Massachusetts combined. Uninsured individuals are more likely to have poorer health and die prematurely than those with insurance. Their families and communities are also affected. Communities with large uninsured populations are more likely to reduce hospital services, divert public resources away from disease prevention and surveillance and reallocate tax dollars to pay for uncompensated medical care.

So says the new report A Shared Destiny: Community Effects of Uninsurance from the National Academies’ Institute of Medicine. This report is part of a series examining the consequences of being uninsured for individuals, families, communities and society as a whole.

The report concludes that Americans without insurance have poorer health and are more likely to die prematurely than people with insurance. Providing health insurance to the uninsured could improve their health and extend their life expectancy, the report concludes. Moreover, increased health coverage could reduce health disparities among racial and ethnic groups.

Among people with breast or colorectal cancer, there was a 50% increased risk of death if the patient did not have insurance. This increase in risk was largely attributed to delayed diagnosis because the uninsured are less likely to receive timely screening tests such as mammograms, Pap tests, and colorectal screening. Uninsured cancer patients often have cancers that go undetected until a fatal stage.

Lack of insurance also affected the type of treatment a cancer patient might receive. For example, uninsured women with breast cancer were less likely to receive breast-conserving surgery than women with private insurance.

The report also looked at the impact of insurance on diabetes, HIV and AIDS, health and kidney diseases, mental illness, traumatic injuries, and heart attacks. Conclusions were drawn from health outcomes of roughly 30 million Americans who were uninsured and between the ages of 18 and 64.

The full report is available for free download from the National Academies at www.nationalacademies.org

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is heading some initiatives to help at 1-202-572-2928 or covertheuninsuredweek.org

Learn more about your rights under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), designed to protect workers who are changing or losing jobs. See www.ahrq.gov/consumer/insuranc.htm

The U.S. government Agency for Health Care Research and Quality (AHRQ) provides consumer information on health insurance options and choosing a quality health plan. See www.ahrq.gov/consumer/hlthpln1.htm

The National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD) at 1-800-999-6673 or www.rarediseases.org administers access to some prescription drugs for people in need. The website at www.benefitscheckup.org helps people over 55 find assistance in paying for prescription drugs.

Get information on your state’s Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and contacts for Medicaid administrators in your area at 1-877-543-7669 or www.insurekidsnow.gov/states.htm

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Bureau of Primary Health Care has information on public programs for the uninsured in your area. See the web at bphc.hrsa.gov or 1-301-594-4110