Lives on the Line Findings

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Health Action 2014
January 23-25

Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill

KEY FINDINGS

Introduction

In the 15-year period since our nation last debated health reform (1995-2009), more than 294,000 American adults (25-64 years old) died prematurely due to a lack of health coverage (see Table 1).
The following 12 states experienced the largest number of premature deaths due to a lack of coverage over the 15-year period 1995-2009: California (38,400), Texas (32,200), Florida (24,400), New York (18,800), Georgia (10,900), Illinois (10,800), North Carolina (9,600), Ohio (9,500), Pennsylvania (8,700), Louisiana (8,200), New Jersey (7,800), and Michigan (7,500) (see Table 2 on page 3).
If Congress fails to pass health reform, the number of Americans who lose their lives will continue to grow. In the next 10 years alone (2010-2019), another 275,000 adults will die alone prematurely due to a lack of health coverage (see Table 3 on page 4).
The following 12 states are projected to have the largest number of premature deaths due to a lack of health coverage over the next 10 years: California (34,600), Texas (31,700), Florida (25,400), New York (13,900), Georgia (11,500), North Carolina (9,600), Illinois (9,400), Ohio (8,900), Louisiana (7,700), Michigan (7,600), Pennsylvania (7,500), and Tennessee (7,500) (see Table 4 on page 4).
Every day in 2010, approximately 68 non-elderly adult Americans died prematurely due to lack of health coverage. If health reform fails, that number will reach 84 Americans every day by 2019.