Jay Rockefeller: “in 2004, 45.8 million Americans were without health insurance. That is 15.7 percent of our population, an increase of…”

“in 2004, 45.8 million Americans were without health insurance. That is 15.7 percent of our population, an increase of over 800,000 people in just one year. Yet this number doesn't even reflect the true extent of the problem, as at least another 16 million adults and children are underinsured. This means that even though they have insurance, they are not able to access quality health care when they need it because of high deductibles, soaring co-payments, and unreasonable health benefit restrictions. As I have said many times before, it is unacceptable that a world superpower such as ours has so many people that are uninsured. Lacking or having inadequate health insurance has been shown over and over to be associated with poorer health and quality of life. The uninsured are over 40 percent more likely to be diagnosed with late stage breast and prostate cancers and more than twice as likely to be diagnosed with late stage melanoma. They are hospitalized more often for avoidable conditions such as pneumonia and uncontrolled diabetes. The Institute of Medicine estimates that 18,000 people die every year because they lack health coverage. Thousands more suffer unnecessary pain and disability because they can't get the health care they need when they need it. We cannot allow so many of our fellow citizens to just fall through the cracks of a deficient health care system. We can and must do better.…”