Mortality and Lack of Health Insurance

Does lack of health insurance increase risk for death? To answer this question, Harvard researchers retrospectively analyzed data on health and insurance status from the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III), conducted from 1988 through 1994, and linked these data to national death statistics through the year 2000. After exclusion of children and recipients of Medicare, Medicaid, and military benefits, 9000 adults (age range, 17–64) remained eligible for analysis.

Three percent of subjects had died by 2000. In a multivariable analysis that controlled for demographic, health, and socioeconomic status, being uninsured was associated with significant excess risk for death (hazard ratio, 1.4). Other independent pred…