NY Times: "18,000 deaths a year among adults could be attributed to lack of insurance."

"Scores of well-designed studies have shown that uninsured people are more likely than insured people to die prematurely, to have their cancers diagnosed too late, or to die from heart failure, a heart attack, a stroke or a severe injury. The Institute of Medicine estimated in 2004 that perhaps 18,000 deaths a year among adults could be attributed to lack of insurance."--NY Times editorial.

Howie P.S.: Earlier this year I was diagnosed with a congential heart defect that required open-heart surgery to correct. I could have been one of those 18,000, if I didn't have access to health care.