How many people have died due to lack of healthcare?

Asked by: Kristofer Jacobson  |  Last update: December 23, 2025
Score: 4.9/5 (56 votes)

Added value of this study Our study found that nearly 8 million people die every year because of a lack of access to high-quality care.

How many people died from lack of healthcare?

Our health care system puts profits before people:

While 68,000 Americans die each year because they lack access to the health care they desperately need, the seven major health insurance companies in America made over $69 billion in profits last year – up 287 percent since 2012.

What are the effects of lack of access to healthcare?

Lack of health insurance coverage may negatively affect health. Uninsured adults are less likely to receive preventive services for chronic conditions such as diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular disease.

How many people go without healthcare?

The Share of Americans Without Health Insurance in 2023 Remained Low. In 2023, 26 million people — or 8 percent of the population — were uninsured, according to a report in September 2024 from the Census Bureau.

How does healthcare affect death rates?

CONCLUSIONS. The results converge to suggest that restricted access to medical care accounts for about 10% of premature death or other undesirable health outcomes. Health care has modest effects on the extension of US life expectancy, while behavioral and social determinants may have larger effects.

The (Many) Crimes of United Healthcare, Explained

35 related questions found

Is the risk of death 25% higher for people with no health care coverage?

Stan Dorn, author of the Urban Institute study, said that although some studies stated that people aged 25 to 64 were 25% more likely to die if they lacked health insurance, the risk of death was probably higher because uninsured people are less healthy than insured people.

What is the number one cause of death in healthcare?

Sepsis kills more than 270,000 adults in the U.S. each year, according to the Sepsis Alliance.

How many Americans lack access to healthcare?

Introduction. An estimated 26 million Americans, or 8 percent of the U.S. population, lacked health insurance in 2023.

What happens in America if you can't afford healthcare?

Americans are no longer taxed for not carrying health insurance. Medical debt contributes to a large number of bankruptcies in America. Access to quality primary care is critical, but doctors have the right to refuse patients without insurance or who are able to pay out-of-pocket expenses.

How does not having healthcare affect people?

Because people without health coverage are less likely than those with insurance to have regular outpatient care, they are more likely to be hospitalized for avoidable health problems and to experience declines in their overall health.

Who pays for uninsured patients?

Hospitals do get help with the unpaid bills – from taxpayers. The majority of hospitals are non-profits and are exempt from federal, state and local taxes if they provide a community benefit, such as charitable care. Hospitals also receive federal funding to offset some of the costs of treating the poor.

How does poor healthcare affect people?

As a result, poverty rates are substantially higher for Californians without health insurance: nearly four in ten are living in poverty (38.4%), compared to 18.5 percent of those covered by Medi-Cal and only 4.2 percent of those with employer-based coverage.

How many Americans don't have health insurance in 2024?

In Q1 2024, the estimated uninsured rate for the full population is 8.2 percent, which corresponds to 27.1 million individuals without insurance.

What are the effects of low quality healthcare?

Errors in health care services cause missed or delayed diagnoses, unnecessary injuries, premature death, and often increased costs. Evidence of high rates of misuse of services include: Hospital Injuries.

Which health insurance denies the most claims?

According to the analysis, AvMed and UnitedHealthcare tied for the highest denial rate, with both companies denying about a third of in-network claims for plans sold on the Marketplace in 2023, respectively.

What are the top 5 preventable deaths?

The proportion of potentially preventable deaths among observed deaths for each of the five causes of death were 34% for diseases of the heart, 21% for cancer, 39% for chronic lower respiratory diseases, 33% for cerebrovascular diseases (stroke), and 39% for unintentional injuries (Figure).

How many people have died from lack of healthcare?

Our study found that nearly 8 million people die every year because of a lack of access to high-quality care.

How often do hospitals sue for unpaid bills?

A smaller number (about 25%) sell patients' debts to debt collectors and about 20% deny nonemergency care to people with outstanding debt. More than two-thirds of hospitals in the sample sue patients or take other legal action against them.

What country has the best healthcare?

According to the 2024 Mirror, Mirror report, Australia, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom have the best healthcare systems, though the differences in overall performance among most countries are relatively small.

How many Americans have medical debt?

According to the CFPB, 100 million Americans owe $220 billion in medical debt. George told me that medical debt has had several devastating impacts on his life: Inability to borrow money for a mortgage or a car.

Why should healthcare be free?

The goal of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) is to ensure everyone receives the health services they need without facing financial hardship. Viewing health as an investment rather than an expense can unlock human capital and economic dividends for countries.

Why is healthcare so expensive?

There are many factors that contribute to the high cost of healthcare in the country including wasteful systems, rising drug costs, medical professional salaries, profit-driven healthcare centers, types of medical practices, and health-related pricing.

What is the No 1 cause of mortality?

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in both men and women.

Which diseases have no cure?

Some of the common medical conditions of people requiring care at the end of life include:
  • cancer.
  • dementia, including Alzheimer's disease.
  • advanced lung, heart, kidney and liver disease.
  • stroke and other neurological diseases, including motor neurone disease and multiple sclerosis.
  • Huntington's disease.
  • muscular dystrophy.

Why is sepsis so common now?

Commonly cited explanations for the increase in sepsis incidence include an aging population with more predisposing comorbidities, more frequent use of immunosuppression, more invasive procedures and medical devices, and the spread of multi-drug resistant pathogens (6-8).