Grim statistics focus on uninsured as Catholics promote dialogue

Published: 2008-04-11

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Living without health insurance is bad for your health. That simple truth was affirmed once again in "Dying for Coverage," a new report from Families USA that estimates how many people between the ages of 25 and 64 are likely to die in each U.S. state because of a lack of health coverage. Using data from the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Urban Institute, the Washington-based national organization for health care consumers issued reports for each state and the District of Columbia, analyzing how mortality rates for that population were affected in 2006 by a lack of health insurance. Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, said in an April 8 teleconference that the report "highlights how our inadequate system of health coverage condemns a great number of people to an early death simply because they don't have the same access to health care as their insured neighbors." The worst news was in Texas and California. It was estimated that more than seven Texans of working age and more than eight Californians of working age die each day because they don't have health insurance.

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