Thousands of veterans died due to no health insurance

Harvard Medical School has released a study which determined that 2,266 veterans under the age of 65 died in 2008 because they did not have health insurance. The study's authors emphasize stress "that figure is more than 14 times the number of deaths (155) suffered by U.S. troops in Afghanistan in 2008, and more than twice as many as have died (911 as of Oct. 31) since the war began in 2001."

In 2008 there were over one million veterans (at the working age) who did not have health insurance and therefore experienced diminished access to care, which led to "six preventable deaths a day."

Dr. Steffie Woolhandler, a Harvard Medical School professor who previously testified before Congress in 2007 regarding uninsured veterans and a co-author of the study, said:

Like other uninsured Americans, most uninsured vets are working people - too poor to afford private coverage but not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid or means-tested VA care. As a result, veterans go without the care they need every day in the U.S., and thousands die each year. It’s a disgrace.

Dr. David Himmelstein, Another co-author of the report, Dr. David Himmelstein, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard, commented:

On this Veterans Day we should not only honor the nearly 500 soldiers who have died this year in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also the more than 2,200 veterans who were killed by our broken health insurance system. That's six preventable deaths a day. These unnecessary deaths will continue under the legislation now before the House and Senate. Those bills would do virtually nothing for the uninsured until 2013, and leave at least 17 million uninsured over the long run. We need a solution that works for all veterans - and for all Americans - single-payer national health insurance.

Although it's a common belief amoung Americans that veterans will receive care from Veterans Affairs, Woolhandler said that even combat veterans may not get it. Veterans Affairs' facilities only provide care for those who have been hindered or immobilized by a condition as a result of their military service, and treatment for particular medical conditions obtained through military service. Veterans will receive care in VA facilities, but only if they pass a means test and will have lower priority standing (priority 5 or 7, depending on income level). Veterans with a certain income level are categorized in the lowest priority group and therefore do not qualify.

Essentially, these veterans are too young to qualify for Medicare, and are not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid. So where's the Republican Party and Fox News now with their unwavering "support the troops" rhetoric? Nowhere to be seen or heard, of course.

Dr. Steffie Woolhandler appeared on today's edition of Democracy Now!: