Uninsured

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.

You often hear that everyone in America gets good health care, even if they are uninsured. Sadly that's not the case. As we noted in a recent policy brief, uninsured people get diagnosed later, die sooner, and the costs get shifted to the rest of us anyway.

In Oregon, one working-age adult dies each day because he or she lacks health insurance. That's the conclusion of Families USA, which has taken national data from the Institute of Medicine and the Urban Institute and broken it down state-by-state.

We looked at the Oregon data because the state has been in the news so much recently because of its health insurance lottery. The state, which in more prosperous times was often at the forefront of health innovation, has seen the number of uninsured creep up to 600,000. The legislature has approved covering low-income families who don't qualify for Medicare or Medicaid. About 130,000 people are eligible but the state only has the money to cover 24,000 of them—and 17,000 of those slots are already full. The state decided the only fair way to fill the remaining slots is by lottery.

We saw a preview the other night of "Critical Condition" a new documentary that shows how for the uninsured, access to health care is too little, too late. The film will air on PBS's "Point of View" next Sept. 30, shortly before the presidential election, but before then filmmaker Roger Weisberg is screening it at town meetings and policy forums across the country. :