How many people in America die because they dont have medical insurance or cannot pay the medical bills?

How many people per year in the USA die because they dont have medical insurance? or dont have enough money? Does the hospital really turn you away if you dont have insurance or money? I live in Australia and we have free health insurance, (to an extent) but if we have to go to hospital they take us in free of charge. I find it disgusting that people have to worry about how they are going to pay their medical bills when they are sick. I can not believe americans have to pay before they get to see a doctor. I'd like to hear your opinions or answers to my questions, Thanks!
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really zero? Im also talking about people who dont have insurance for non-deadly stuff. Like people who pull out there own rotting teeth because they dont have insurance or have enough money to afford the dentist bills.

Zero... insurance doesn't heal you when you are sick. Doctors do that, and there are social programs in the US for people who cannot afford treatment.

No society on earth has free health care of any type - it costs money no matter who pays for it. In the US, most people are insured through their work. Some people remain uninsured despite qualifying for government programs because they are unaware of, or unwilling to register for, them.

Hospitals are not allowed to turn you away based on your insurance or financial status.

Insurance is one of the hot button issues that the Democrats have latched onto. People in the US have a legitimate gripe about the cost of medical treatment. In most cases it's too dang high. This is caused by the lack of doctors, and price fixing by the HMO's (the insurance most people have through work). The solution isn't to force nationalisation of the system, the solution is to train more doctors.

[edit] People who pull out their own rotting teeth? Darwin giveth, Darwin taketh away. Zero is to say that the numbers are insignificant compared to the number of people whose deaths are rescheduled through medical intervention.

On a side note, I was on a project in West Africa where one of the locals had an abcessed tooth extracted by a qualified oral surgeon. He died shortly after the procedure.

[edit] Every American age 65 or older has Medicare health insurance provided by the government and paid for with tax dollars (3% of all payroll income in the country w/ 50% paid by employer). If the elderly person has a sufficiently small income, then they also qualify for Medicaid.

Medicare and Medicaid are also available for disabled/poor people who are less than 65.

Additionally, older people receive Social security - a supplementary retirement income paid for by taxes (13% of payroll income below ~100k w/ 50% paid by employer)

There are tons of other social programs - AFDC, TANF, Welfare, Food Stamps, section 8 housing, CACFP, and Head Start, just to name a few.

If people are unaware of these programs it is their own fault. Thanks to Andrew Carnegie (American entrepreneur), there are public libraries everywhere where they can go and research federal programs.

I've gone through the similiar thing -- still a little bit painful,here http://www.HealthInsuranceFreeTips.info/free-health-insurance.htm is the
resource help me out.

Many individual doctors require payment in advance from uninsured patients. Hospitals will treat someone without insurance without being paid in advance, but will bill them after the treatment.

62% of all deaths in the U.S. are from critical illness. That doesn't mean they didn't receive medical care, but some did not get quality care. Also, for people that are over 65:

51% have incomes between $10,000-50,000 annually
24% have incomes under $10,000 annually
8% have incomes over $50,000 annually
17% are dead already

To me this means that about 8% of older Americans (they are at higher risk for health problems) could afford quality health care.

Jas, the US has many programs to help the uninsured. Many are uninsured from laziness or ignorance. If you need proof read Yahoo answers for the US questions asking how some young girl can get health insurance NOW that she's pregnant. Last month she would assume she's 'healthy and doesn't need it.'

Granted there are many exceptions for people who had insurance and have an illness that insurance companies won't take, who also make too much for Medicaid, but not enough to afford a high risk plan. For those people it really depends on where they live because each state is different. My state has great plans and if other states would adopt the Maryland plan much of the problem would be solved.

Health insurance can be expensive here, but it's far cheaper than what it would cost if we paid via taxes. But, someone under 40 can still get full, comprehensive coverage for less than $200/month. That's chepaer than an 85% income tax....

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