HOME

Harvard Medical School Researchers at Cambridge Health Alliance Find Sharp Increase in Uninsured Veterans Since 2000: Nearly 6 Million Uninsured Americans are Veterans or Families of Veterans

Of the 47 million uninsured Americans, one in every eight (12.2 percent) is a veteran or member of a veteran’s household, according to a study by physicians from Cambridge Health Alliance who are also Harvard Medical School researchers. The study is published in the December, 2007 issue of the American Journal of Public Health. 1.8 million Veterans (12.7 percent of non-elderly veterans) were uninsured in 2004, up 290,000 since 2000, the study found. An additional 3.8 million members of their households were also uninsured and ineligible for VA care.

The study is based on detailed analyses of government surveys released between 1988 and 2005. Veterans were only classified as uninsured if they neither had health insurance nor received ongoing care at Veterans Health Administration (VHA) hospitals or clinics. A preliminary review by the study’s authors of 2006 data released last month (while this study was in press) shows little change in the number of uninsured veterans since 2004.

“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,” said Dr. Steffie Woolhandler, a physician at Cambridge Health Alliance and an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Woolhandler testified before Congress about the problem earlier this year. “As a result, veterans and their family members delay or forgo needed health care every day in the U.S.,” said Woolhandler.

To learn more about this study go to the Cambridge Health Alliance

Posted on November 5th, 2007 by admin
Filed under: Healthcare