Report Bolsters Lack Of Health Care, Premature Death Link

Three adults die prematurely each week in Connecticut on average because they lack health insurance, and more than 1,100 died over seven years, says a new report that's likely to weigh on consciences in the debate over health care reform.

The estimates focus on uninsured residents aged 25 to 64 from 2000 through 2006 and will be released today by Families USA, a 25-year-old organization that advocates affordable health care for all Americans.

Dozens of previous studies have found that people without health insurance tend to forgo preventive care and tests and postpone or forgo care when they have a medical problem.

Families USA builds on two previous national studies on the same subject. In 2002, the Institute of Medicine estimated that 18,000 adults nationwide die prematurely each year because they don't have insurance; the estimate of the Urban Institute, an economic and social policy research group, was at least 22,000 in 2006.

Families USA is the first to do a state-by-state look at the anguishing statistics, which consumer advocates and public officials hope will bring more urgency to the push for health care and insurance reform.

"As this report demonstrates, a lack of health insurance has immense repercussions — twice as many people died from lack of health insurance as died from homicide in 2006," said U.S. Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro, D-3rd District. "This is shocking and is further evidence that we can no longer delay addressing this country's growing health care crisis."

Although DeLauro was referring to national homicide data, her comment holds true for Connecticut, too.

Families USA estimates that 150 Connecticut adults died in 2006 due to a lack of insurance, and FBI statistics show 108 murders in the state that year.

The report shows "universal health care is a matter of life and death for a number of people, said Juan A. Figueroa, president of the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut. "Needless to say, one life to lose is too many."

Families USA has been rolling out data from various states in recent weeks, and some are faring worse than Connecticut. The organization's website ( www.familiesusa.org), shows Arkansas, for instance, has a much higher rate of uninsured adults and had an estimated 390 deaths in 2006 linked to lack of insurance.

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