The report is the first analysis of differences in health care received by uninsured and insured people with heart disease, hypertension, high cholesterol, arthritis, and chronic back pain.
Heart disease is the number one cause of death in America.
Stroke is number three, and hypertension and high cholesterol are significant risk factors in both these diseases. Arthritis, which afflicts over 40 million Americans, is the leading cause of disability in the United States, and chronic back conditions are the leading cause of activity limitation for Americans under the age of 45. Unfortunately, these differences are enormous for the many millions of Americans afflicted with potentially life-threatening or disabling health conditions. Among people diagnosed with high blood pressure, the uninsured were more than twice as likely to have had no blood pressure check in the past year. Uninsured people with heart disease have 28 percent fewer visits to physicians' offices, clinics, or hospital outpatient centers than insured people with heart disease.