» Republicans Lie, People Die (On Health Care As Well As Iraq) Liberal Values

Republicans Lie, People Die (On Health Care As Well As Iraq)

February 27, 2010 — Ron Chusid

While Republicans continue to block health care reform by repeating the misinformation being spread by the insurance industry, more and more people are dying every year due to lack of health care coverage. It is estimated that more than 275,000 adults will die over the next decade due to lack of health care insurance (and these estimates are thought to be on the conservative side).

This calculation comes from Families USA based upon previous studies by the Institute of Medicine and the Urban Institute. They also estimate that between 1995 and 2009 lack of insurance was responsible for more than 290,000 premature deaths.

No other major industrialized nation has this problem. None of these countries have a health care payment system were people die because they do not have coverage. None of these countries have a health care payment system where people who do have insurance coverage are still at risk of bankruptcy due to insurance companies finding ways to avoid paying claims.

This is the bottom line to consider when conservatives give all the reasons why we cannot change our health care payment system (which does not necessarily changing our excellent health care system for the worse). No other major industrialized nation has these problems. Why must the United States?