U.S. Average

Low Bound: $103.97 billion
High Bound: $207.31 billion
As a Share of GDP: 1.51%
Cost per Uninsured Resident: $4,541.00

The Cost of Failure

The “Cost of Failure” is the value our economy loses because of the poor health and shorter lifespan of the uninsured.

The Low Bound estimates only take into account that the uninsured have shorter lifespans than the insured. The High Bound—more correctly—takes into account that the uninsured not only are more likely to die prematurely but also are generally in poorer health than the insured.

The share of GDP that our economy loses because of the poor health and shorter lifespan of the uninsured reflects the magnitude of the drain the “Cost of Failure” has on national and state economies.

The cost per uninsured resident measure shows that the economic cost per uninsured resident is greater than the cost of covering them.

This metric is based on an Institute of Medicine report that estimated the “Cost of Failure” to be between $65 and $135 million in 2001. We updated these numbers to reflect the growth of our GDP, the increased number of uninsured, and the increased population of the United States since 2001.

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