More than 11 million of America's 47 million uninsured have chronic physical illnesses like heart disease, diabetes and asthma and are not getting the life-saving medical care they need.

According to a recent article in Annals of Internal Medicine, a leading medical journal, uninsured adults with chronic illnesses were nearly four times more likely than the insured to have not seen a health professional within the past year (22 percent vs. 6 percent). They were also six times more likely to identify an emergency room as their standard site for care (7.1 percent vs 1.1 percent).

"We have made dramatic advances in treatment of chronic illnesses like heart disease and high blood pressure," said Dr. Andrew Wilper, the study's lead author. "But many Americans are locked out of the system because they are uninsured and cannot afford this life-saving care. Many end up with preventable ER visits, hospitalizations, amputations, kidney failure or worse because their chronic condition has gotten out of control," he said.

Some claim that uninsured Americans can get the care they need in emergency rooms. But ERs may provide too little, too late for the millions of uninsured with chronic conditions. They need regular medical monitoring and medications to control their illnesses and a whole array of services they cannot afford.

Our profit-driven health care system leaves tens of millions vulnerable. Only single-payer national health insurance can fix this broken system and save thousands of lives each year.

Dr. John Benziger

South China