Almost 1.7 million military veterans lacked health insurance or access to government hospitals and clinics in 2003, up from about 1.5 million in 2000, according to a study released Tuesday by the Physicians for a National Health Program, the AP/Houston Chronicle reports (Sherman, AP/Houston Chronicle, 10/19). The study, based on an analysis of government surveys, found that 11.9% of nonelderly veterans were uninsured in 2003, up from 9.9% in 2000. More than one in three veterans under age 25, one in seven between ages 25 and 44 and one in ten ages 45 to 65 lacked health insurance in 2003, according to the study. The study also found that many uninsured veterans had major health problems -- 15.6% had a disabling chronic illness -- and uninsured veterans had as much trouble getting medical care as other uninsured people. More than two-thirds of uninsured veterans were employed in 2003, according to the study (PNHP release, 10/19). The report blames some of the increase in uninsured veterans on the Bush administration's decision to suspend health care services for higher-income veterans who do not have service-connected illnesses or injuries, the AP/Chronicle reports.

Response
David Himmelstein, a Harvard Medical School professor and author of the study, said, "We're sending men and women off to war, and yet the people who fought previous wars can't get the basic things they need to go on with their lives afterward." Cynthia Church, spokesperson for the Department of Veterans Affairs, disputed the study's findings, saying that the number of uninsured veterans in 2003 was about 900,000 and that waiting times to see doctors have been reduced. Church added that she believes PNHP is "using veterans to advance their political agenda" (AP/Houston Chronicle, 10/19).

The study is available online.