|
Health consequences of uninsured adults: An updated review
Vinit Shashikant Patil1, K Sidhulal2, Nilima Vaghela3, Uzma Belgaumi4, PA Rafeeque5, MM Siraj6
1 Consultant Oral Pathologist, Kozhikode, Kerala, India
2 General Medical Practitioner, Kozhikode, Kerala, India
3 Clinical Practitioner, Daman, Daman and Diu, India
4 Reader, Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, School of Dental Sciences, KIMS Deemed to be University, Karad, India
5 Consultant Physician and Intensivist, Kozhikode, Kerala, India
6 Consultant Anesthesiologist and Intensivist, Kozhikode, Kerala, India
Correspondence Address:
Dr. Vinit Shashikant Patil
Consultant Oral Pathologist, Kozhikode, Kerala
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None
DOI: 10.4103/ijmo.ijmo_8_22
|
|
The health consequences of uninsurance are real, vary in magnitude in a clinically consistent manner. Health services research conducted over the past 25 years makes a compelling case that having health insurance or using more medical care would improve the health of the uninsured. Uninsured adults have less access to recommended care, receive poorer quality of care, and experience worse health outcomes than insured adults do. Uninsured adults forego preventive care and seek health care at more advanced stages of disease. Society then bears these costs through lower productivity, increased rates of communicable diseases, and higher insurance premiums. Some mortality studies imply that a 4%–5% reduction in the uninsured's mortality is a lower bound; other studies suggest that the reductions could be as high as 20%–25%. The potential health benefits of expanding insurance coverage for these adults may provide a strong rationale for reform. In its review study, we have highlighted the health consequences of uninsurance among adults.
|
