Source: Data from Kaiser Family Foundation. (2012). Kaiser state health facts. Retrieved from http://www.statehealthfacts.org.
Their lack of health insurance has deadly consequences because they are less likely to receive preventive health care and care for various conditions and illnesses. For example, because uninsured Americans are less likely than those with private insurance to receive cancer screenings, they are more likely to be diagnosed with more advanced cancer rather than an earlier stage of cancer (Halpern et al., 2008). [1] It is estimated that 45,000 people die each year because they do not have health insurance (Wilper et al., 2009). [2] The box discusses a very informative real-life experiment on the difference that health insurance makes for people’s health.
