Uninsured health improves when eligble for Medicare at age 65

An American Cancer Society study found "substantial evidence that lack of adequate health insurance coverage was associated with less access to care and poorer outcomes for cancer patients," as the "uninsured were less likely to receive recommended cancer screening tests and more likely to have their cancers diagnosed at a later stage, when they are less curable.”


In addition, the study found that they "had lower survival rates than those with private insurance for several cancers for which there are screening tests and effective treatments, including breast and colorectal cancer.”

Report Links Health Insurance Status With Cancer Care: http://www.cancer.org/docroot/NWS/co...ancer_Care.asp

Entire study: http://caonline.amcancersoc.org/cgi/...CA.2007.0011v1

No Insurance, Poor Health

The case for providing health coverage for all Americans got even more compelling in the past week when two new studies presented the most comprehensive evidence yet that the lack of health insurance is seriously harmful to a patient’s health. The studies found that uninsured people suffer significantly worse outcomes from cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer than those who have coverage.

One study by researchers at Harvard Medical School, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that uninsured near-elderly people got sicker at a faster rate than comparable people with insurance. Those disparities were sharply reduced when people turned 65 and became eligible for Medicare….

… A second study, by researchers at the American Cancer Society, found substantial evidence that lack of adequate health insurance coverage was associated with less access to care and poorer outcomes for cancer patients. The uninsured were less likely to receive recommended cancer screening tests and more likely to have their cancers diagnosed at a later stage, when they are less curable….

… The two studies leave little doubt that health improves when people gain insurance coverage. That coverage should be available to all Americans.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/03/op...=1&oref=slogin