Report claims 18 deaths a week are due to lack of health insurance in Ill.

CHICAGO - More than 18 working-age Illinoisans die each week due to a lack of health insurance, according to a report released Tuesday by a health care advocacy group. A lack of insurance can lead to an early death in a number of ways, according to Ron Pollack, executive director of the nonprofit group Families USA. The uninsured often go without preventive care, or forgo screenings and tests that could detect life-threatening illnesses, he said. They're less likely to have a regular source of medical care, and so sometimes delay getting treatment until an illness or pain has gotten severe. And they wait to fill prescriptions - including medications that could help manage conditions such as asthma, diabetes and heart disease - until they ha