Families USA: 907 Ohioans died in 2010 because of lack of health coverage

A new report from Families USA finds that an average of 17 Ohioans died each week in 2010 because they did not have health coverage (Source: “Report: Lack of health coverage costs lives in Ohio,” Dayton Business Journal, June 20, 2012).

The report, titled Dying for Coverage, applies methodology developed by the Institute of Medicine to determine state-level data on deaths related to a lack of coverage. The report concludes that 907 Ohioans, age 25 to 64, died in 2010 because of a lack of health coverage and 4,496 died between 2005 and 2010.

According to Families USA, a left-leaning consumer advocacy organization, there are numerous reasons for the lack of coverage.

“Many Americans have had coverage denied because of pre-existing health conditions. Many others, particularly during the recent economic downturn, have been priced out of the insurance market as they have struggled to maintain homes and feed families in the face of continually rising insurance premiums. Still other families have fallen victim to the decade-long decline in employer-sponsored coverage,” the organization said in a release.