Lives Lost & Money Wasted

 

For-Profit Healthcare is Deadly and Expensive.

In case you haven't seen it yet, a heart-breaking study released earlier this week has attempted to quantify what we lost during the pandemic because of our rigged, for-profit medical system in the US. The most startling finding of the study is that 212,000 lives could have been saved in 2020 alone if we had a Medicare for All system in place when the pandemic started. That's 212,000 of our family and friends who could be alive right now if they hadn't been forced to ration their own healthcare due to cost. The 212,000 preventable deaths include people who were already struggling to pay for healthcare before COVID, those who lost their jobs (and consequently their health insurance) because of COVID, and the 1 out of every 4 COVID deaths that have been caused by lack of access to care.

As if the loss of life weren't enough, this study also shows that the American people spent over $105 BILLION in excessive medical expenses during COVID going to private insurers and pharmaceutical companies. Big Healthcare got rich during the pandemic while the rest of us scrambled to pay our bills.

The saddest part of these findings is that it didn't have to be this way. We have known for decades that Medicare for All saves lives and money, but we haven't been able to make it a reality...YET. This study is just another reason why we need to be fighting harder than ever before to make sure that when the next public health crisis arrives, we will be ready.  If you want to help us get this information out, please consider forwarding this email to a friend or sharing our posts about it on Facebook or Twitter. In solidarity, Ben and Gillian Healthcare-NOW staff

Healthcare-NOW is a grassroots organization that fights to end the healthcare crisis by educating and advocating for improved Medicare-for-All legislation.  Healthcare-NOW 1534 Tremont St. Boston, MA 02120-2929 United States