Advocacy Group Claims Lack of Insurance is Costing Lives

New York ranks fourth in the nation in the number of deaths due to lack of health insurance coverage, according to data compiled by the consumer advocacy group Families USA.

The group says the deaths of 1,200 people each year can be connected to a lack of health insurance coverage.

The high cost of health care is one of the main reasons the uninsured delay going to the doctor, according to Health Policy Analyst Kim Bailey.

She says that has an adverse effect on not only the individual, but the health care system at large. Bailey says often the uninsured can't pay the entire cost of that care, and as a result, we all do in the form of higher health insurance premiums.

Families USA based their data on methodology used in 2002 by the Institute of Medicine, which released the first estimates on the number of Americans dying prematurely due to a lack of insurance.

Bailey's group advocates for high-quality, affordable health care for everyone.