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Brian Vastag

JAMA. 2004;291:681-682.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

After 3 years of exhaustive study and six reports, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) made a plea to Congress and President Bush: provide health insurance for everyone living in the United States—now.

"This committee has concluded that small steps are inadequate," said Mary Sue Coleman, PhD, co-chair of the committee and president of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. "There's no justifiable excuse for further delay. It will only worsen the financial stresses [on] health care institutions."

Some 17% of US residents younger than 65 years—43 million individuals—lack health insurance, according to the report. The average length of time without insurance is 6 months, although many become "chronically" uninsured. Consequences include "worse health and earlier death;" 18 000 deaths per year are directly attributable to lack of insurance, says the report.

Coleman said that myths about the uninsured endure. "It still surprises many that 80% of Americans with no . . . [Full Text of this Article]