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Death toll higher for uninsured

E-mail | Print | Comments () Posted by Karen Weintraub April 8, 2008 01:10 PM

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By Alice Dembner, Globe Staff

About 320 Massachusetts adults age 25 to 64 died in 2006 because they lacked health insurance, according to an estimate released today by Families USA, a national healthcare advocacy group based in Washington.

The death toll is a statewide extrapolation of national reports produced by the Institute of Medicine and the Urban Institute, and based on the US Census estimate of the number of uninsured in Massachusetts, which may overcount the total. An IOM report in 2002 found that the uninsured are 25 percent more likely to die prematurely than those with health coverage.

“Massachusetts is likely to have a significant drop [in the death rate] as a result of the healthcare reform legislation being implemented,” said Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA.

Uninsured people are more likely to delay or forgo needed medical care, according to a number of studies.

The 2002 IOM report estimated that 18,000 adults died nationwide because they didn’t have insurance. A follow-up report by the Urban Institute estimated that 22,000 died in 2006 for the same reason.

Families USA produced estimates for each of the states for 2006. The numbers ranged from 30 people in Vermont to 2,700 in Texas.

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White Coat Notes covers the latest from the health care industry, hospitals, doctors offices, labs, insurers, and the corridors of government. Chelsea Conaboy previously covered health care for The Philadelphia Inquirer. Write her at cconaboy@boston.com. Follow her on Twitter: @cconaboy.

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