A study was conducted by Harvard Medical School claims that in the US 45,000 deaths are associated to a lack of health insurance every year. The study was published in the American Journal of Public Health and claims that those who are uninsured are 40% more likely to die than those who are insured. Perhaps the most grim statistic of all is that someone dies every 12 minutes due to lack of health insurance.
The study took into consideration factors such as education, income, smoking, drinking and obesity. Even considering these factors, deaths linked to lack of insurance exceed the number of deaths caused by many common killers such as kidney disease.
There were two reasons given explaining the increased risk of death among the uninsured, the main explanation, simply being that the uninsured go for longer periods without seeking medical help. They don’t receive vital screenings such as mammograms and blood pressure checks. The lead author of the study and M.D., Andrew Wilper said “We doctors have many new ways to prevent deaths from hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease — but only if patients can get into our offices and afford their medications.”
Uninsured in Utah 
Although I don’t fully understand everything about health care reform, I am really glad that it gives everyone an opportunity to obtain health insurance. I find it sad that it took the US so long to address the problem. If it had been addressed earlier, the number of deaths among the uninsured would have been smaller.