In the midst of the hotly debated topic of healthcare reform, here is some food for thought: researchers out of Johns Hopkins University have found that uninsured children who enter hospitals are 60% more likely to die than children who are covered by either private or government insurance plans.

The study, published in the Journal of Public Health, examined the hospital records of over 23 million children in 37 states who were admitted to hospitals between 1988 to 2005. The data revealed that at least 1000 hospitalized children died each year “simply because they lacked insurance.” Out of the 38,649 total children’s deaths nationwide during this period, this would account for almost 17,000 (16,787, or 43%) of them.

The reasons why uninsured children experience greater mortality are not completely clear, but experts point out that they often obtain healthcare by way of the emergency room (ER). This suggests that they might not have had access to the proper screening and preventative care that would have avoided the need to go to the hospital in the first place. Coupled with the fact that uninsured children stayed in the hospital, on average, for less than a day, it indicates that by the time they have actually been admitted, their situation may very well have reached an advanced stage.

While some believe that children who lack insurance receive inferior care, the authors of the study vehemently dismiss this as a possibility and instead argue that uninsured children tend to be further along in their course of illness before they seek out medical help, and some have even, “…literally died before the hospital could provide them more care.” In fact, earlier studies had shown that uninsured children were more likely to have pre-existing conditions that were not being attended to, including diabetes and asthma, and were less likely to see doctors on a regular basis.

It has been estimated that in this country, up to 7 million children are uninsured, despite effort by the government to increase coverage through programs like the Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP. This is especially troubling in light of the fact that many uninsured children don’t see a doctor for as long as two years. By the time they finally do, their conditions are often much farther along.

So regardless of where you stand on the issue, it is difficult to argue with the fact that something isn’t working when it comes to healthcare in this country, and as the debate continues and a resolution seems nowhere in sight, take a moment to consider the millions of uninsured children who suffer as a consequence.