Insured cancer patients do better than uninsured ones

A study that seemed to expose the differences in insured and uninsured health care concluded this week that uninsured cancer patients are nearly twice as likely to die within five years as those with private coverage.

Surprised? In the U.S. health care system, you shouldn't be. Uninsured patients may not have certain tests and treatments suggested to them as a result of not having the safety net of insurance backing them up. Nice.

This is significant because by the time any needed tests roll around for uninsured patients, their cancer has spread and the likelihood of long-term survival is quite diminished.