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New Report Synthesizes the Impact of Health Insurance on Mortality and Economic Opportunity
A new report released today by the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured (KCMU) synthesizes the major findings of the past 25 years of health services research assessing the most important effects of health insurance. The report, Sicker And Poorer: The Consequences of Being Uninsured http://www.kff.org/content/2002/20020510/ , evaluates thousands of citations and 230 research articles to assess the consequences of being uninsured for health status and economic opportunity. The report concludes that the weight of this large body of research makes a compelling case that health insurance does lead to improved health and better access to care. The major findings from the paper include:-- The uninsured receive less preventive care, are diagnosed at more advanced disease stages, and once diagnosed, tend to receive less therapeutic care (drugs and surgical interventions);-- Having health insurance would reduce mortality rates for the uninsured by 10-15 percent; and-- “Better” health would improve annual earnings by about 10-30 percent (depending on measures and specific health condition) and would increase educational attainment. “While much of the policy debate on the uninsured has focused on the costs of various coverage expansions, little attention has been paid to the economic impact of leaving 40 million people uninsured. This report demonstrates that lack of health insurance affects more than health care utilization … it ultimately affects the health and well being of the uninsured,” said Diane Rowland, executive director of KCMU. Jack Hadley, author of the study and principal research associate at The Urban Institute, said, “This report assesses the considerable evidence developed in the last few decades establishing that having health insurance has a measurable impact on both mortality and earning potential for the uninsured population.” The new report is the first of a KCMU initiative on what is known and should be known about the cost to society of not covering the uninsured. Future reports will include information about the amount of money already being spent on care for the uninsured, the financial cost to uninsured individuals when they seek care, and the economic benefit to society of a fully insured population. FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Global Action on Aging distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
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