Santorum: No One Has Ever Died Because They Didn’t Have Health Care
Ditto. [referring to GIF with Misfit’s character giving the middle finger.]
Sadly, I can actually think of some specific people I’ve come into direct contact with whose lack of appropriate health insurance directly affected their health, quality of life, and access to medical treatments. And I say this as a healthcare provider (as opposed to, say, a deliberately ignorant political candidate).
Meanwhile, the news keeps featuring politicians going on and on about “justifiable” wars and other extreme expenses when every day I see my under-staffed* facility struggle to care for some of the most vulnerable people in this country. It’s a highly visible, potent reminder of where our priorities are as a nation.
Speaking of priorities: Why does death have to be the metric here? Isn’t quality of life enough? People lose teeth because they don’t have adequate health insurance, or they die from preventable dental diseases. A NY Times blog says people without insurance are less likely to have chronic illness under control (in this case being diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol). Illness can be the difference between barely making it and being homeless.
But I’m obviously and totally biased because I deal with this sort of thing every day.
*Sad this is, my department is “adequately” staffed - as in, when everyone is present-and-accounted-for we have a full, fast-paced day. If someone is out and no-one can come in to cover, we have an insanely crazy WTFBBQ day. As for the understaffed department, I understand that they have more people than other facilities in the area. That’s scary and depressing.
