Death and the Uninsured in W.Va.

Adding to the debate over health care, an advocacy group estimates that "210 West Virginians between the ages of 25 and 64 died in 2006 because they didn’t have health insurance."

The Associated Press is among those who picked up on the report from Families USA, which "bases its estimates on data collected and analyzed by the Institute of Medicine and the Urban Institute."

The Charleston Gazette also has coverage, while MetroNews has a story and an interview with group founder Ron Pollack and local health care advocate Pat White.

"According to U.S. Census data, 245,000 West Virginians were uninsured in 2006, a drop from 304,000 in 2005," AP reports. "Nationally, the number of uninsured increased from 44.8 million in 2005 to 47 million in 2006."