Florida has the third highest number of people who die prematurely each year because they are without health insurance, according to a Families USA study.
The nonprofit, created to get all Americans quality, affordable healthcare, found that 2,272 people ages 25 to 64 died in Florida in 2010 because they did not have health insurance to pay for medical costs.
This puts the state behind California, a state with 3,164 premature deaths in 2010, and Texas with 2,955.
According to the study, "Dying for Coverage: The Deadly Consequences of Being Uninsured," premature deaths due to a lack of health insurance reached its highest point in 2010. From 2005 to 2010, the number of deaths nationally increased from 20,350 to 26,100.
"During the economic downturn, millions of Americans lost both their jobs and their health coverage, and rising health insurance premiums have priced many more out of coverage," according to the Families USA study.
In Florida, 12,336 people ages 25 to 64 died from 2005 to 2010 because they did not have insurance.
The numbers in the study were taken from estimates by the Institute of Medicine, which released a similar study in 2002, "Care without Coverage: Too Little, Too Late."
Ron Pollack, execitive director of Families USA, told HuffPost Miami that Florida also ranks third in the country for people who are uninsured. Texas and New Mexico get the top two spots.
"The reason this happens in states like Florida or Texas is because of two things: one, there are a lot of small busineses that are not providing healthcare coveage, but at least as significant is the safety net. The Medicaid safety net is much weaker in terms of eligibility than in other states," he said.
President Barack Obama has plans to enact the Affordable Care Act, nicknamed "Obamacare," providing medical care to every citizen.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott considers the president's proposed healthcare plan unconstitutional, and has said that should the law pass, the state will abide by it as "the law of the land."
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