We hear a lot about how we as a society just can't afford to pay for the uninsured. Wrong. We're already paying.

Cost of Failure: The Economic Losses of the Uninsured , a report by our New America health policy colleagues Sarah Axeen and Elizabeth Carpenter, concluded that the poor health and shorter life spans of the uninsured cost the United States between $102 billion and $204 billion in 2006.

"Some might argue that given the sudden economic downturn, we cannot afford health reform. To the contrary: these numbers only further emphasize that the cost of doing nothing is more than the cost of reform," said Len Nichols, director of our health policy program.

The report updates an oft-cited Institute of Medicine study in 2000, which found that economic losses of those who lack insurance was between $65 billion and $130 billion for "each year of health insurance forgone." The estimate considered economic losses because of premature deaths and unnecessary prolonged illness.

The new NAF report updates that data based on increases in the number of uninsured Americans and the value of the nation's economic output. From 2000 to 2006 the ranks of the uninsured grew from 40 million to 47 million. U.S. gross domestic product rose from $9.8 trillion to $13.6 trillion.

The range of costs reflects two different assumptions used to calculate the estimates. In the first, the uninsured and insured are assumed to have equal levels of disease prevalence; in the second the uninsured are assumed to be sicker. The estimates could have gone even higher had the team included "spillover costs" such as doctors and hospitals raising their rates and insurers hiking premiums to cover the bills that go unpaid by people with no insurance.