A Washington-based health care advocacy group has released a state-by-state estimate of deaths it says were related to a lack of health insurance.The non-profit, non-partisan organization Families USA says hundreds of working adults in Kentucky and Indiana are dying each year because they have no coverage.Executive Director Ron Pollard says the uninsured are more likely to skip checkups and preventive screenings, and delay medical care until it's too late to help them.A new study from the group says two years ago, 470 working Kentuckians and 460 Indiana residents died prematurely due to no insurance.Pollard says the report doesn't offer any specific solutions, other than to suggest more federal government participation."Clearly, we believe that this is an area that needs increased attention, it needs leadership at the national level."The study says nationally, some 22,000 people died prematurely because they had no coverage.
Rick Howlett was midday host and the host of LPM's weekly talk show, "In Conversation." He was with LPM from 2001-2023 and held many different titles, including Morning Edition host, Assignment Editor and Interim News Director. He died in August 2023. Read a remembrance of Rick here.