How Many People Die Each Day From No Insurance? (Idea For A Commercial)

[MannyGoldstein]

I had a thought while driving home today - show a big pile of nicely-stacked coffins, one for each person who will die today because they couldn't obtain health care. One by one, pall bearers pick them up and solemnly take them away, while a voice over talks about how these people would have stayed alive in any other industrialized country.

I hate to quote Stalin, but he was right about one thing: a single death is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic. We need to have each American feel each death individually.

[HiyaEmerald Eyes]

1. I believe I heard it was 60

yes here it is


http://motherearthhealth.blogspot.com/2009/02/estimating-numbers-of-americans-who-die.html


Estimating the Numbers of Americans Who Die from Lack of Health Insurance
An estimate for the number of Americans who die each day from lack of health insurance is found in a study from the Urban Institute:


Uninsured and Dying Because of It: Updating the Institute of Medicine Analysis on the Impact of Uninsurance on Mortality.


This line of study began in 2002 by the Institute of Medicine (IOM). Their estimate then was 18,000 Americans had died because they were uninsured in the year 2000. Subsequent studies using the IOM methodology combined with Census Bureau estimates of insurance coverage concluded that 137,000 people died from 2000 through 2006 which included 22,000 in 2006.


A detailed explanation of the IOM methodology and how it is combined with Census Bureau statistics is presented on page 2 of the study mentioned above. According to its site, the IOM was established in 1970 under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences. The IOM provides "independent, objectives, evidence-based advice to policymakers, health professionals, the private sector and the public."


The IOM site is filled with information about the organization-too much to present here. But you can go through the site in great detail to make a judgment about whether or not it is trustworthy. Among the many details that impressed me were the awards the IOM has received. One was the Rhoda and Bernard Sarnat International Prize in Mental Health. I wondered about the status of the recipients of this particular award. Notice the medical schools with which the recipients are associated.


Examine also this page of projects concerning healthcare, also this page concerning education, and this page concerning child health. Here is a complete listing of IOM projects by topic. Clearly, the IOM is not some fly-by-night organization.

The information presented in this post explains the basic estimate I use. That estimate currently is 22,000 Americans dying from lack of health insurance per year. Divided by 365 days of the year, the number is 60 Americans per day.

To argue this estimate, you would have to debunk two organizations- The Urban Institute and the Institute of Medicine. The IOM is the crucial organization. It is their methodology upon which the 22,000 estimate is based.

One can easily argue the accuracy of the estimate as either too high or too low. If you have the data, please offer it. If you want to attack the estimate, please read the complete report and explore the additional links provided in this post first.

[aquart]

2. How many die each because insurance denied them

Even though they thought they were well covered?

[sabrina 1]

3. I was just reading the statistics today

and it is unbelievable as there seems to be no doubt about the huge numbers who die each year because they have no healthcare.

Most sources I found said that approximately 22,000 people die each year. One said 30,000. What a disgrace this is.

http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/411588_uninsured_dying.pdf

The absence of health insurance creates a range of consequences, including lower quality of life, increased morbidity and mortality, and higher financial burdens. This paper focuses on just one aspect of this harm—namely, greater risk of death—and seeks to illustrate its general order of magnitude.

In 2002, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) estimated that 18,000 Americans died in 2000 because they were uninsured. Since then, the number of uninsured has grown. Based on the IOM’s methodology and subsequent Census Bureau estimates of insurance coverage, 137,000 people died from 2000 through 2006 because they lacked health insurance, including 22,000 people in 2006.

Much subsequent research has continued to confirm the link between insurance and mortality risk described by IOM.

So, the above commenter is right, that is about 60 Americans dying each day because they have no healthcare. I like your idea of doing something to wake people up. I know most people do not believe this is happening. And Congress doesn't care.

[sabrina 1]

4. Oops, sorry for the repeat, I didn't see the link

to the same article. But I guess it needs to be repeated as it is a horrific fact that no one talks about on the news, from either side.

[sam sarrha]

5. Tobacco kills 1200 every day, 1060 of them were addicted as Children, 530 addicted under 13 yrs old

i am sure that most soon become indigent from disease and are a burden to the state.

the REALLY BIG STORY here that the Tobacco Companies are dependant on addicting children in order to stay in business. because their products kill half their customers.

so... eliminating this blight of murder and child abuse could eliminate the expense of 20 times the death toll of poverty.