Report: Ga. 5th in U.S. for deaths due to lack of insurance

http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/morning_call/2012/06/report-ga-5th-in-us-for-deaths-due.html?s=print

Atlanta Business Chronicle by Carla Caldwell, Morning Call Editor

Date: Thursday, June 21, 2012, 6:44am EDT

Georgia has the fifth-highest number of residents in the United States who died prematurely because they did not have health insurance, according to a new report by health care advocacy organization Families USA.

The report says nearly 1200 Georgians died in 2010 because they lacked health insurance, reports WABE. Families USA Executive Director Ron Pollack said a big reason behind the deaths is those without insurance typically put off seeking medical attention, the station said.

Across the nation, 26,100 people between the ages of 25 and 64 died prematurely due to a lack of health coverage in 2010, according to the report.

The five states with the most premature deaths due to lack of insurance in 2010 were: California (3,164 deaths), Texas (2,955 deaths), Florida (2,272 deaths), New York (1,247 deaths) and Georgia (1,161 deaths).


http://www.familiesusa.org/resources/publications/reports/dying-for-coverage.html

Dying for Coverage: The Deadly Consequences of Being Uninsured
A report from Families USA, June 2012
Note: This report contains data for all states and the District of Columbia.

The number of uninsured Americans reached an all-time high in 2010, as nearly 50 million Americans went without health insurance for the entire year.1 For many of these uninsured people, the consequences of going without coverage are dire. The uninsured frequently face medical debt or go without necessary care, and too many of them die prematurely.

In 2002, the Institute of Medicine released a groundbreaking report, Care without Coverage: Too Little, Too Late. This report estimated that, nationwide, 18,000 adults between the ages of 25 and 64 died in 2000 because they did not have health insurance.2 Since then, the crisis of the uninsured has grown even larger. During the economic downturn, millions of Americans lost both their jobs and their health coverage, and rising health insurance premiums have priced many more out of coverage.

Thankfully, the new health care law can help stem the rising tide of the uninsured. Beginning in 2014, millions of Americans will be eligible for assistance with the cost of health coverage. In addition, insurance companies will no longer be able to deny coverage or charge higher premiums to people with pre-existing conditions. These measures, among others, will help reverse the growth in the number of uninsured Americans year after year.

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www.familiesusa.org/resources/publications/reports/dying-for-coverage-findings.html

Across the nation, 26,100 people between the ages of 25 and 64 died prematurely due to a lack of health coverage in 2010 (Table 1). That works out to:

2,175 people who died prematurely every month;
502 people who died prematurely every week;
72 people who died prematurely every day; or
Three every hour.

Between 2005 and 2010, the number of people who died prematurely each year due to a lack of health coverage rose from 20,350 to 26,100.

Between 2005 and 2010, the total number of people who died prematurely due to a lack of health coverage was 134,120.

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http://familiesusa2.org/assets/pdfs/Dying-for-Coverage.pdf

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The uninsured pay more for medical care.
„„ Uninsured patients are unable to negotiate the discounts on hospital
and doctor charges that insurance companies do. As a result,
uninsured patients are often charged more than 2.5 times what
insured patients are charged for hospital services. [I have had personal experience with this.]

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