If there was any doubt: A new study has found that uninsured people are 40 percent more likely to die in a given period than those who have private health insurance.
According to the study, published in the American Journal of Public Health, lack of health insurance played a role in the deaths of up to 45,000 Americans in 2005.
Other studies have found similar results, but the latest one comes as Congress is trying to find a way to provide health care to the millions who have no insurance.
The study, by an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, tracked 9,000 people and found that the risk of death associated with being uninsured was about the same as being a former smoker or being male (!). (Current smokers were at 102 percent more risk of death that non-smokers.)
Experts say people without health insurance tend to rely on emergency rooms or clinics for urgent care, and skip preventative measures that might detect disease early.
For more on the study, click here.
- Here’s an alert for people who use EBT debit cards for food stamps, disability payments, etc.: The EBT computer system will be shut down for 24 hours, starting at 11 p.m. Saturday, for system upgrades. Do whatever food shopping you need to do before then.
- Members of the Shasta Genealogy Society can help you track down answers to family history questions at the Redding Library. No reservations are required. The volunteers are located in the Boggs/Genealogy section on the second floor. Help is available 10 a.m.-noon on Tuesdays and 1-4 p.m. on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
- Mark Your Calendars for 10 a.m. Oct. 3 when Prevention Awareness and Community Education for Diabetes (PACED) sponsors a Fun Walk for the Cure from Turtle Bay School to the Sundial Bridge. The event is free, but donations will be accepted, of course. Free information and diabetes-friendly snacks.
- DVDs I Watched on the Dreadmill: “Watchmen,” an alternative-history superhero movie that’s overly long, but I still enjoyed it. (Not for the kids, though.) Also, continuing my months-long romance with French director Jean-Pierre Melville, I watched “Le Doulos,” with a very young Jean-Paul Belmondo as a hat-wearing crook working both sides of the street. Icy cool noir.
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