Report: Kids Without Health Insurance 1.6 Times More Likely to Die
Friday Oct 30, 2009Report: Kids Without Health Insurance 1.6 Times More Likely to Die in Individual Health Insurance
A new report
from the Johns Hopkins Children's Center in Baltimore estimates that the deaths
of 17,000 children in the United States over 17 years were due to lack of
health insurance.
The study analyzed 23-million hospital records from 37 states. After adjusting for different variables, the study concluded that uninsured kids were 1.6 times more likely to die than children who had insurance.
While health reform is urgent from almost any angle, this really underscores the point. David C. Chang, a co-author of the study, said that health insurance had more of a dramatic impact on children’s outcomes than any medical treatment he could think of.
It’s heartening to see that both health bills in the House and Senate include subsidies for moderate-income families as well as provisions to extend the eligibility period for young adults under their parents’ plan. The Senate bill would require insurers to allow kids to stay on it until age 26. Under the House bill, they would be covered until 27.
Hopefully, even in the swirl of political games, we don’t forget about actually taking good care of people — especially children.
