Board on Health Care Services & Committee on the Consequences of Uninsurance 
Shared Destiny [PDF ebook] 
Community Effects of Uninsurance

A Shared Destiny is the fourth in a series of six reports on the problems of uninsurancein the United States. This report examines how the quality, quantity, and scopeof community health services can be adversely affected by having a large or growinguninsured population. It explores the overlapping financial and organizational basisof health services delivery to uninsured and insured populations, the effects of communityuninsurance on access to health care locally, and the potential spillovereffects on a community’s economy and the health of its citizens. The committeebelieves it is both mistaken and dangerous to assume that the persistence of a sizableuninsured population in the United States harms only those who are uninsured.