ABSTRACT

These and similar reports that appeared in the news media illustrate the obvious fact that people without health insurance do not receive the care that those with insurance are provided and can suffer for it. This is seen in a nationwide study that found previously uninsured persons, especially those with cardiovascular disease and diabetes, had worse health and used more services when they became eligible for government-sponsored Medicare coverage at age 65 than those with prior health insurance (McWilliams, Meara, Zaslavsky, and Ayanian 2007). Once Medicare was obtained, the health of the previously uninsured people improved significantly. By age 70, health differences between the previously uninsured and insured were reduced by half, which shows the importance of having access to health care that insurance provides. A lack of insurance over time can have a strong negative cumulative effect on a person's health (McWilliams et al. 2007; Quesnel-Vallee 2004).