More than 18 working-age Illinoisans die each week due to a lack of health insurance, according to a report released Tuesday by a health care advocacy group.
A lack of insurance can lead to an early death in a number of ways, according to Ron Pollack, executive director of the nonprofit group Families USA. The uninsured often go without preventive care, or forego screenings and tests that could detect life-threatening illnesses, he said.
They’re less likely to have a regular source of medical care, and so sometimes delay getting treatment until an illness or pain has gotten severe. And they wait to fill prescriptionsù including medications that could help manage conditions such as asthma, diabetes and heart disease ùuntil they have enough money to fill them, he said.
"Our inadequate system of health coverage condemns a great number of people to an early death," Pollack said.
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