According to a study published in the Aug. 5 edition of the Annals of Internal Medicine, one out of every three uninsured Americans has a chronic illness and isn’t receiving the required medical treatment.

Despite the fact that the study didn't particularly focus on the health consequences of lack of insurance and lack of access to healthcare, one can deduce that these aspects would trigger to a range of medical complications, the authors of the report stated.

About 11.4 million American people suffer from at least one chronic illness and have no insurance to pay for medical care. “A lot of people are suffering from a lack of health insurance,” asserted Dr. Steffie Woolhandler, one of the study’s authors, who is also a doctor and associate professor of medicine at Harvard University.

“These are people who, with modern therapies, can be kept out of trouble,” affirmed Dr. Andrew P. Wilper, who conducted the study.

The government estimated that 47 million of Americans lived without health insurance, which signifies that if the proportions found in the study continued to be steady, there could be about 16 million people in the U.S. with a chronic illness but no insurance.

Many health complications can occur to these people. Many of them might face early disability and even death, the study’s authors said.

People with high blood pressure, for instance, are at high risk for serious medical events such as strokes if they don’t take the drugs they should or don’t have a physician in order to monitor their illness, stated Karen Davis, the president of the Commonwealth Fund.