Insurance news: Cell phone app tries to diagnose you by the sound of your cough, veterans are dying from lack of health coverage, and 1 million people spending an average fo $400 a year on health insurance for their pets

Researchers at Harvard Medical School say that a lack of health insurance helped kill 2,266 U.S. military veterans last year, because they lacked access to health care. The authors note that the number of deaths is far more than the 155 U.S. troops who died last year in Afghanistan.

The Detroit News reports that Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Co. is asking homeowner's insurance applicants if they -- or anyone else living in the home -- have been convicted of crimes including arson, property destruction, etc.

Discovery News reports that a new cell phone application claims to be able to diagnose ailments by analyzing the sound of your cough.

USA Today's opinion page argues that letting illegal immigrants buy insurance on a new health insurance exchange -- the House bill would allow this, the Senate version would not -- would benefit everyone. Why? Because it makes it less likely that uninsured people will turn up at hospital emergency rooms or clinics for charity care, the cost of which gets passed on to people with insurance.

And the Washington Times, meanwhile, writes about "an overwhelming wave of interest" by employers and pet owners in pet health care insurance. Interesting stat:

More than 1 million pet owners across the country are spending about $400 a year to insure their pets.