"45,000 people die every year because they don't have health insurance."

[Bolo Boffin]

Just heard that on C-Span, and the context was the military and foreign policies of the United States and what they cost.

How many people died on 9/11? I know, that was horrible. We don't want to have that happen again.

But we have roughly 15 9/11's in this country every year because of a lack of health insurance.

Can we document that fact?

ETA: I found a USA Today article from 2002, where it's said that 18,000 Americans die from lack of health care back then. That's 6 9/11's.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/healthcare/2002-05-22-insurance-deaths.htm

Also, I found several blog posts about this where 18,000 is quoted and then 45,000 is quoted as the number of people who die in auto accidents. Perhaps the caller on C-Span got the numbers mixed up.

[rurallib]

1. In response to a post I made a DUer sent me here

http://www.monthlyreview.org/0903navarro.htm

Thanks to area51.
Note that this essay is from 2003 and at that time the estimate for the article was 100,000.

[Bolo Boffin]

2. That 100,000 is deaths due to a lack of medical care

Slightly different from "deaths due to no health insurance", but a good source of information, nonetheless. Thanks!

[L0oniX]

3. You mean health care? Just because you have insurance doesn't mean they will actually pay...

for the health problem you may have. You may die even if you have health insurance that denies you a procedure to save your life and that is the surprise many encounter when they need help.

[Bolo Boffin]

4. Yes, and that's something the 100,000 figure above speaks about

Plus, people not going in to get medical care that might get covered but the person can't afford the 80/20 split, etc.

Many problems in health care. And yet we keep chasing every little foreign threat imaginable while we're dying in the emergency rooms and under the bridges...