Sofia D. Marin
Newswire21.org

Up to four times as many US Army veterans died last year because they lacked health insurance than the total number of US troops killed in Iraq and Afghanistan in the same period, according to a new study.

A Harvard Medical School research team estimates 2,266 US military veterans under the age of 65 died in 2008 because they lacked health insurance. That's 14 times higher than the US military death toll in Afghanistan that year (155), and more than twice as many as have died since the war began in 2001 (911 as of Oct. 31).

For those Americans who lack health insurance, the risk of dying is amplified by about 40 percent. Nationally, there are just under 1.5 million uninsured veterans. Applying those odds, the researchers arrived at their estimate of 2,266 preventable deaths of veterans under the age of 65 in 2008.

"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 Harvard Medical School professor and co-author of the report. "As a result, veterans go without the care they need every day in the US, and thousands die each year. It's a disgrace."

As the country commemorated Veteran's Day, the study warned that even under the Veterans Health Administration system, many veterans are left without care.

As national healthcare legislation makes its way through the Senate, millions of Americans question whether the bill will effectively provide them with the basic care they need.

"We think everyone - everyone - needs health care through a Medicare-for-all approach," Woolhandler said in an interview broadcast on DemocracyNow. "I think the plight of the veterans epitomizes what happens to working families."

Little Change
The researchers say the health reform legislation pending in the House and Senate won't significantly change things.

"On this Veterans Day, we should not only honor the nearly 500 soldiers who have died this year in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also the more than 2,200 veterans who were killed by our broken health insurance system," said David Himmelstein, a Harvard associate professor of medicine and co-author of the study. "These unnecessary deaths will continue under the legislation now before the House and Senate."

While many people believe that all veterans can get care from the VA, the reality is that the VA treats only those veterans who's condition is connected to his or her military service. The VA also offers healthcare eligibility to impoverished veterans, but on lower priority.

The researchers, who are part of Physicians for a National Health Program, said the legislation would leave at least 17 million Americans uninsured over the long run.

"We need a solution that works for all veterans - and for all Americans - single-payer national health insurance," Himmelstein said.