Estimating the Numbers of Americans Who Die from Lack of Health Insurance

An estimate for the number of Americans who die each day from lack of health insurance is found in a study from the Urban Institute: 

Uninsured and Dying Because of It: Updating the Institute of Medicine Analysis on the Impact of Uninsurance on Mortality.

This line of study began in 2002 by the Institute of Medicine (IOM). Their estimate then was 18,000 Americans had died because they were uninsured in the year 2000. Subsequent studies using the IOM methodology combined with Census Bureau estimates of insurance coverage concluded that 137,000 people died from 2000 through 2006 which included 22,000 in 2006.

A detailed explanation of the IOM methodology and how it is combined with Census Bureau statistics is presented on page 2 of the study mentioned above.  According to its site, the IOM was established in 1970 under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences. The IOM provides "independent, objectives, evidence-based advice to policymakers, health professionals, the private sector and the public."

The IOM site is filled with information about the organization-too much to present here. But you can go through the site in great detail to make a judgment about whether or not it is trustworthy. Among the many details that impressed me were the awards the IOM has received. One was the Rhoda and Bernard Sarnat International Prize in Mental Health. I wondered about the status of the recipients of this particular award. Notice the medical schools with which the recipients are associated. 

Examine also this page of projects concerning healthcare, also this page concerning education, and this page concerning child health. Here is a complete listing of IOM projects by topic. Clearly, the IOM is not some fly-by-night organization. 

The information presented in this post explains the basic estimate I use. That estimate currently is 22,000 Americans dying from lack of health insurance per year. Divided by 365 days of the year, the number is 60 Americans per day.

To argue this estimate, you would have to debunk two organizations- The Urban Institute and the Institute of Medicine. The IOM is the crucial organization. It is their methodology upon which the 22,000 estimate is based.

One can easily argue the accuracy of the estimate as either too high or too low. If you have the data, please offer it. If you want to attack the estimate, please read the complete report and explore the additional links provided in this post first. 

On the Last Day of My Mother's Life

on the last day of my mother's life

she pulled me down near her mouth

and whispered I was a Goddess

on the last day of my mother's life

her friends sang songs to her and brought

flowers from their gardens

and vegetables even

so that somehow she might

eat and be healed

on the last day of my mother's life

when the tubes went dry

and the bills came in

and she knew that her home

and her garden would be owned forever by some bank

on that day, me a tiny goddess in the making,

wished my mother,  Goddess or not,  had health insurance

on the last day of my mother's life I chose not to be tiny

I chose to be Kali with the sharp knife

Composting and Cancer

Composting is important but it's not the answer to the mysteries of the the cosmos nor will it save your life if you've got cancer.

Take my mom. An old-time hippie, bead wearing, organic goddess of a Woman. She believed, and rightly so, that it should be a religion to eat organic foods provided by local farmers. She believed that following this spiritual path would make her years secure.

Then she got cancer. She had no health insurance. 

Cruel and stupid people might argue that somehow she brought it on herself, that she had some flaw in her cosmic awareness. Truth was that she did everything "right." And once she had cancer, she tried all the healthy cures. She still needed conventional treatment which was hard to get without insurance. She got some of it, but not all of it. She died. She might have lived with health insurance. Certainly with insurance she would have had yearly checkups and would have caught the cancer early.

Compost by all means. Worship the Earth. Drive a Prius. Ride your bike. Worship Kali. But saving the Earth is also saving ourselves. 

Please. Fight for Universal Health Care. Don't think you won't need it because you're young and happy.