WHEN THERE IS NO 'HEALTH HOME'

An estimated seven working-age Texans die each day because they don't have health insurance, according to a report released Tuesday by a national consumer-advocacy group.

Some of those deaths result from delayed diagnoses of medical conditions, since people who lack insurance often do not see a doctor regularly, said Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, a nonprofit organization that compiled the report. Others occur because patients who have been diagnosed lack access to treatment, he said.

"This could be true of high blood pressure, heart problems, diabetes, asthma," said Pollack, who is based in Washington, D.C. "These are all conditions that could be treated, but you have to know about it and you have to have the resources to get the treatment."

The estimate was based on research from The Urban Institute, a social policy research group that reported 22,000 adults aged 25 to 64 — twice the number of homicide victims — died nationwide in 2006 due to a lack of health insurance.

Families USA used that statistic, then took into account states' populations, insurance and mortality rates to determine figures for each state.

More than a quarter of Texans are uninsured, the highest rate in the nation. Uninsured adults are 25 percent more likely to die prematurely than adults with private health insurance, according to the Institute of Medicine, a government advisory agency.

"The sad fact of it is, sometimes folks will make the suggestion that the uninsured have equal access to health care," said Anne Dunkelberg, associate director of the Austin-based Center for Public Policy Priorities.

Whether a patient is insured, she said, "really makes a difference when it comes to premature death."

Ron Cookston, executive director of Gateway to Care, which helps Harris County residents get health care, said uninsured Houstonians often fail to manage chronic medical conditions such as diabetes, which can exacerbate the condition.

"At the end of the day, it is people using a 'health home' — having a regular place to go to the doctor — that keeps them healthy," he said. "Health insurance helps do that."

Health insurance statistics:

• Seven: Working-age Texans who die each day because they don't have health insurance.

• 220,000: Adults who died nationwide in 2006 because of lack of health insurance.

• 47 million: Uninsured Americans in 2006.

• 28: Percent of Texans who are uninsured.

Source: Families USA