Institute of Medicine
National Academy Press
May 21, 2002
“… the overall mortality risk for uninsured adults, estimated here to be on the order of 18,000 excess deaths among uninsured adults annually, is comprised of elevated mortality rates across many disease categories. All of these excess deaths among uninsured adults occur among relatively young Americans, those under the age of 65.”
Comment: Headline news:
18,000 YOUNG ADULTS KILLED
You didn’t see this headline? Of course not. That’s merely the number of young adults that die each year because they don’t have health insurance. And besides, if we emphasized this tragedy, we would probably have to report the follow-up stories that demonstrate that these young adults (and everyone else) could have had life-saving insurance at no net additional cost to us. We won’t publish those stories. Instead, bland stories on the policy issues of the Institute of Medicine are the order of the day (not to mention that the media wouldn’t want to risk losing advertising revenue from the private health plans). Then the administration wouldn’t be pressured to renew its protest that it’s un-American to have the government interfere with the health insurance marketplace. And we won’t have to see our administration’s typical rhetoric that “18,000 young Americans gave their lives for a free America, protecting the principles that make America the great nation that it is.”
Since 9/11, our government is turning the world upside down because of the tragic loss of life that day. Yet just since 9/11, FOUR TIMES AS MANY YOUNG ADULTS HAVE DIED because of the lack of insurance. Each two months of inaction duplicates the loss of that tragic day. And our government remains silent. Our leaders won’t even discuss real solutions because, “We don’t want ‘the government’ involved in our health insurance.”
Why does America tolerate this rhetoric? It’s sick! Our health care system is sick! And our political leaders are doing nothing to cure the problems!
It’s time to grab the placards and take to the streets! Let’s go!