Report links 18 deaths a week to lack of insurance in Illinois

CHICAGO (AP) - More than 18 working-age Illinoisans die each week due to a lack of health insurance, according to a report released Tuesday by a health care advocacy group. A lack of insurance can lead to an early death in a number of ways, according to Ron Pollack, executive director of the nonprofit group Families USA. The uninsured often go without preventive care, or forego screenings and tests that could detect life-threatening illnesses, he said. They're less likely to have a regular source of medical care, and so sometimes delay getting treatment until an illness or pain has gotten severe. And they wait to fill prescriptions Ñ including medications that could help manage conditions such as asthma, diabetes and heart disease Ñ until they have enough money to fill them, he said. "Our inadequate system of health coverage condemns a great number of people to an early death simply because they don't have the same access to health care as their insured neighbors," Pollack said. Families USA has released similar studies for all 50 states and said the reports are the first ever to look at deaths at the state level stemming from a lack of health insurance. During 2006, the group estimates 960 Illinoisans between the ages of 25 and 64 died because they did not have health insurance. The group made its estimates based on methods used in two previous studies. The Institute of Medicine estimated that 18,000 adults nationwide died in 2000 because they did not have health insurance. The Urban Institute estimated that number stood at 22,000 adults in 2006. According to a U.S. Census report that averaged data from 2004 to 2006, 13.6 percent of Illinois residents are without health insurance. Nationally, the number of uninsured is 47 million, or 15.8 percent of the population, according to Census data. Illinois became the first state in the nation to promise health insurance coverage for all children, through a program called All Kids that became law in late 2005. Pollack called it a "remarkable success" for Gov. Rod Blagojevich. However, Blagojevich unsuccessfully tried most of last year to persuade lawmakers to ensure all Illinoisans have some kind of health care coverage. Currently, he's in the midst of a legal fight over a less ambitious expansion of the FamilyCare program, which would be open to about 147,000 adults. Republicans have complained the state can't afford such an expansion, particularly for families making enough money to pay for coverage themselves. Democrats have said they agree with the governor's health care expansion push but won't support it as long as he tries to go around the Legislature to implement it. In California, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's attempt to create universal health care coverage also failed. Pollack said he thinks the collapse of the Illinois and California efforts are due partly to such reforms requiring a partnership between states and the federal government Ñ especially when states are dealing with a financial downturn. So far, there has not been the necessary national leadership or political consensus, he said. Abby Ottenhoff, a spokeswoman for Blagojevich, said the plight of the uninsured is "certainly an issue the federal government ought to address." But she said in the meantime, Blagojevich will continue to work to expand access to health insurance. "The findings of Families USA underscores how serious the consequences are if we don't do something to make sure people get affordable health coverage," Ottenhoff said.