The Impact of Being Uninsured

Facts

The impact of being uninsured*
• The uninsured have a 25 percent greater chance of
premature death.
• Nationally, there are 18,000 avoidable deaths annually among
the non-elderly due to lack of health insurance coverage.
• Uninsured women suffering from breast cancer have a 30-50
percent greater risk of death than those who are insured.
• Low-income uninsured.**
– 4.5 times more likely to have diabetes
– 30 percent more likely to have high blood pressure
– 50 percent more likely to have high cholesterol
– Almost twice as likely to have fair or poor health
Help for the “uninsurable”
• BCBSNC estimated in 2006 that a high-risk pool in North Carolina
could cover 9,000 “medically uninsurable” citizens, requiring
a subsidy of approximately $40 million a year.*
• North Carolina legislators are considering creating a state high-risk pool with premiums for eligible individuals capped at 175 percent of individual standard rates.**

For more information on health insurance coverage in North Carolina, please visit our website at www.nchealthplans.com or call our toll free number 888-765-5400 and speak with one of our qualified agents.  Our agency provides coverage for health insurance in North Carolina through Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC).  You may qualify for a 15% healthy lifestyle discount if you are in excellent health.  Call us for details. 

BCBSNC data. 2006.
House Bill 265, 2007 Session of the N.C. General Assembly.
Institute of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences, ”Covering the Uninsured: Being Uninsured Has Adverse Health Consequences.” Fact Sheet. N.C. Task Force on Covering the Uninsured. April 2006.
Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Survey Data. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention. 2003.

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 1st, 2009 at 8:22 pm and is filed under BCBSNC Insurance, Miscellaneous Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.