A new study by two Harvard researchers estimate that over 2,000 U.S. veterans under the age of 65 died in 2008 due to lack of health insurance. Unlike popular belief, many veterans do not qualify for health care by the VA once they are out of the service.
The death toll of veterans, quantified by the researchers, David Himmelstein, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and Stephanie Woolhandler, was said to be 2,266. This would be 14 times higher than the military death toll in Afghanistan in 2008.
The study found that nearly 1.5 million veterans between the ages of eighteen and sixty-four were uninsured last year. The researchers used census data to determine this number. These veterans were uninsured because of the fact that those who were not injured in combat and whose income is above a certain threshold are frequently ineligible.
In an appearance on Democracy Now! this morning, Woolhandler elaborated on some of the issues. For one thing, the veterans who are uncovered would mostly be unhelped by the health insurance reform bills moving through Congress. Many middle-income veterans are not eligible for VA care, and even with Congress' bills, somewhere between a third and a half of all uninsured people will remain uninsured in the year 2020.
The researchers determined their figure by taking the 1.5 million uninsured, and applying a somewhat actuarial statistic to them. According to other studies, the uninsured have about a 40 percent higher risk of dying each year than otherwise comparable insured individuals. Given that, calculations using the prior number concludes that 2,266 veterans will die each year from lack of health insurance.
Medical care through the VA and coverage is apportioned on the basis of eight "priority groups." These groups are determined by various aspects, such as people who were prisoners of war, who have coverage for life, or those who have injuries due to combat and therefore have coverage for their injuries for life.
Those veterans who fall below an income threshold are eligible, as determined on a county-by-county basis. According to the study, however, many veterans are among the "working poor" and fall just above the bracket. Himmelstein told AFP that "The priority eight group, the lowest priority, are veterans above the very poor group who have no other reason to be eligible and that group is essentially shut out of the VA."
Woolhandler added that studies have shown found that 62 percent of all bankruptcies in the United States are due at least in part to medical illness or medical bills. Additionally, those studies found that the majority of those in medical bankruptcy had private health insurance.
All of this is sobering news on this, Veteran's Day.
Written by Michael Santo
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