Over 6,600 uninsured veterans will die by 2013: estimate
A Raw Story analysis, based on a recent Harvard Medical School study, estimates that 135,000 American citizens and over 6,600 US veterans will die due to a lack of health insurance before current proposed healthcare reform measures would take effect.
One hundred and thirty-five thousand US lives far exceeds the total number of Americans who died in the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the attacks of 9/11 combined. The lives of over 6,600 US veterans is more — by over 1,300 — than the total number of US soldiers who have thus far died in both the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
Dr. Steffie Woolhandler, a professor of medicine at Harvard University and co-author of the Harvard Medical School study, called Raw Story’s estimates “quite reasonable.”
Read the rest… (great insights from experts throughout, including a veterans’ advocate who discusses the correlation between lack of proper healthcare and the military’s suicide epidemic)
Categories: Health, Journalism, Media/Entertainment, Politics/Law/Government, scholars and rogues, World
Progressive Culture | Scholars & Rogues 
Since 2.5 million people die in the US every year, presuming that the bill is passed this year, that means that 94.6% of the deaths are people that are insured. What health care crisis?
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_people_die_each_year_in_the_united_states
Jeff
Thanks for reminding us of the definition of “compassionate conservatism.” Happy holidays.
Sam, coming from you, that means a lot to me. Happy holidays to you.
Jeff
I think you two need to work on your new year’s resolutions. 🙂
Everybody dies someday, though citizens of the “richest, best, bravest, freest, ad nauseum” nation in the world, especially veterans, dying because they lack access to health care (we might call it “rationing”) is pretty fucking pitiful. Though not as pitiful as the those who argue that such a system is better than all other possibilities.
Worse is all the people who will manage to live and become paupers in the process so that a precious few can become even richer by not doing anything except skimming off the top.
If American “conservatives” were actually conservatives rather than the rotten, neo-liberal colostomy bags that they really are, they might be outraged by the destruction. After all, these are Americans…Joe Six Packs, veterans and patriots…the very greatness that supposedly needs conserving.
The neo-liberals have gutted every nation they’ve ever gotten their hands on, this one isn’t any different.