This study was completed in 2004. A new study on the consequences of uninsurance is now underway. For more information about the current study, please click here.

Over 43 million U.S. residents, nearly one in six Americans under the age of 65, lack health coverage. Unless employer-sponsored health insurance becomes more widely available and less costly, or public programs expand, the number of uninsured could continue to rise over the next decade. With support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Institute of Medicine completed a three-year, comprehensive study of Uninsurance and its implications for uninsured individuals, their families, their communities, and the nation. The study had two overarching objectives:

• To assess and consolidate evidence about the health, economic and social consequences of uninsurance for person without health insurance and their families, health care systems and institutions, and communities as a whole.

• To raise awareness and improve understanding by both the general public policy makers of the magnitude and nature of the consequences of lacking  health insurance.

A 16-member Committee issued six reports between September 2001 and January 2004. Six subcommittees drafted these reports and then submitted them to the steering Committee for review and issuance. 

The Committee's sixth and final report, Insuring America's Health: Priniciples and Recommendations, was released on January 14, 2004.