Thousands of Americans and hundreds of Oklahomans are dying every year because they don’t have health insurance, a study by an advocacy group shows.
The report from Families USA, which backs President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act, says more than 26,000 American ages 25 to 64 died prematurely in 2010 because they didn’t have health insurance.
That includes 452 Oklahomans.
“Most people want health-care coverage. They want to be protected. They want peace of mind. They want security,” said Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA.
“But when premiums continue to escalate much faster than people’s incomes, it means more and more people get priced out of the health care that they might have been able to afford in the past.”
The report – based on a 2002 study by the Institute of Medicine and U.S. Census Bureau numbers – is the latest of the voices competing for attention as the U.S. Supreme Court nears a decision on the constitutionality of the federal health-care law.
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