Events Calendar
In This Section
Most Read Stories
NFL star Chris Spielman's wife loses cancer battle
Man found dead in North Akron home is identified
Dad accused of forcing son into field, killing him
Poor machine maintenance blamed for fire at Akron business
Coventry man killed in crash at I-77 ramp
College student mistaken for deer, shot to death
Man allegedly paid teens to spit in his face
Indians add 7 players to 40-man roster
Body with gunshot wounds found in Canton Township creek
Blogs:
Pets:
Sick Pets Get High-tech Health Care
The Heldenfiles:
Friday Night Notebook
Patrick McManamon:
The proposed new LeBron mural doesn't do it for me
Akron Zips:
Two blowouts, one night
Tribe Matters:
Seven players added to Tribe’s 40-man roster
Cleveland Browns:
Hey, somebody's gotta stick up for the Browns
Kent State Sports:
Singletary update
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Gameblog: Cavs at Indiana Pacers – Here’s to LBJ and Free Throws
Buckeye Blogging:
OSU – Michigan college football rivals meet in Baghdad
Varsity Letters:
Bowling season starts today
All Da King's Men:
Headed For Disaster
Blog of Mass Destruction:
Muslim McCarthyism & Death Prayers
Akron Law Café:
Federal Judge Declares DOMA Unconstitutional
See Jane Style:
Vintage Chic
Car Chase:
TIME TO GET YOUR COLLECTOR CARS WINTERIZED
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Silverdome Potentially SOLD!
Ohio Travels with Betty:
Norma asks if Barkitecture is still at Stan Hywet.
Sound Check:
Steely Dan Plays "The Royal Scam" at E.J. Thomas Hall
HRLite House:
Colloquium at University of Akron
Akron Gamer:
Nintendo's Mario endures even as games come and go
Each day, two Ohioans die because they lack health coverage
Published on Sunday, Mar 23, 2008
In releasing similar reports around the country, the group is seeking to emphasize the dire need to move toward a health-care system that makes coverage available and affordable to all.
Ron Pollack, the executive director of Families USA, offered this chilling calculation: The mortality rate nationwide due to lack of health insurance is about twice as high as the number of deaths caused by homicide. Surely, a crime wave threatening 47 million people would elicit a quick response, Congress and the president rushing to the rescue.
The report severely undermines the notion, advanced by many, that because hospital emergency rooms must accept everyone, heath care is available to all. The report explains that by the time uninsured patients arrive, it often is too late. Due to a lack of preventive care or delays in seeing a primary-care physician, the visit to the emergency room ends up making little difference.
Sen. Sherrod Brown, long an advocate for universal coverage, rightly pointed to the report as showing how the uninsured ''get it every way.'' By that, the Ohio Democrat means they are less likely to have a primary-care doctor, less likely to get screenings for preventive care and more likely to delay going to the doctor. When they do go? They pay more, unable to benefit from the lower rates negotiated by insurers.
A second report released last week, by the Milken Institute, buttressed the findings of Families USA, concluding that the cost of chronic diseases totals $57 billion a year in Ohio, due to treatment and lost productivity. The study argued the sum could be reduced by $40 billion through basic preventive care.
Such data provide further persuasive evidence of the wisdom in universal coverage. For those without coverage, the benefit of an affordable plan could well be their lives. The value hardly stops there. The cost of providing health care to the uninsured is shared by all who do have coverage, and is reflected in higher premiums and copays. Put another way, universal coverage benefits everyone.
Get the full article here.
