Uninsured Survival Guide

[jeffrey]

Millions who lack insurance delay basic medical, dental and vision care until their health suffers. Here's how to find affordable care when you need it most.

If you don't have health insurance, you probably know the financial risk you're taking...The uninsured die sooner. But financial bills aren't the only risk. According to a report last year by the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured:

**People without health insurance receive less preventive care and are less likely to have major diseases detected early.Get Online Insurance

**The uninsured are more likely to die prematurely than the insured, with various studies putting the mortality rate for the uninsured somewhere between 1.2 times to 1.6 times the rate for the insured.

**Uninsured infants have relative odds of dying that are 1.5 times higher than infants with private insurance.

**The poorer health associated with being uninsured depresses workers average lifetime earnings significantly. The commission estimated that better health would boost earnings by 10% to 30%.

If you don't have insurance, there are things you can do to protect your health and pocketbook. Before we get into those, however, I want to remind you of some of the ways you might be able to find insurance coverage that you might not have considered... [read more at msn.com]