Debunking “Dying for Coverage” (part 2)
May 9th, 2008 by Brian T. SchwartzUpdate to: Is being uninsured a fatal disease?
Linda Gorman has once again taken Families USA to task for their bogus research. Last week it was about their claims of Medicaid “cuts.” Most recently, her post at StateHouseCall.org debunks their “Dying For Coverage” articles, which make claims on how many people die from lacking insurance in each state.
The implication is, of course, that if being uninsured kills, then the proper policy is to make sure everyone has insurance! That means that government makes it a crime for people not to buy politician-approved insurance (the “individual mandate”), or the government takes over the insurance industry by becoming the “single payer.” But as I’ve written elsewhere, having someone else pay for your medical care does not guarantee that you get it.
Even if the Families USA studies were true, it does not justify the authoritarian policies they recommend. One could use the studies to motivate people to donate to charities that assist people in buying insurance. But it is immoral to force people to do so.
In any case, on to the debunking!

