As far as I can tell, health care gets very little coverage in the blogosphere. Yet health care is one of the most important issues Americans face today, and it's one of the areas in which Bush's policies have had the most nefarious effects.
A new report from Families USA, called Health Care: Are you better off today than you were four years ago?, lays out exactly how grim the health care picture has become under Bush:
American workers are paying more for their health insurance and getting less than they were four years ago, and the situation is particularly acute in several states important in the presidential race, said a consumer group that has been critical of President Bush.
Families USA also noted that the number of people without insurance jumped significantly since Bush took office, with more than 85 million people uninsured at some point during 2003 or 2004.
Borrowing a comparison President Reagan made famous in the 1980 campaign, Families USA asked whether the nation is better off today than it was four years ago in terms of health care.
"Our analysis leaves no room for debate. The clear answer is no," the group said in a report with a clear political message, although it never mentions Bush by name. Families USA planned events across the nation Tuesday to publicize its findings.
Here are some of the salient points of the report, which you can download here:
- Health insurance premiums paid by workers rose by 35.9 percent from 2000 to 2004.
- Health premiums paid by workers rose nearly three times faster than the average U.S. earnings from 2000 to 2004
- The number of people whose total health care costs exceeded one-quarter of their annual earnings rose substantially from 2000 to 2004
- The number of nonelderly people without health insurance at some point over a two-year period rose from 72.5 million in 1999-2000 to 85.2 million during 2003-2004--an increase of 12.7 million people
- The following 10 states had the highest percentage of non-elderly people who went without health insurance for a period of time during 2003-2004: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, and Texas
- The following 10 states had the largest number of non-elderly people who went without health insurance for a period of time during 20032004: California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas
- Every racial and ethnic group experienced significant growth between 1999-2000 and 2003-2004 in the portion of the nonelderly population that was uninsured
Obviously, some of these developments have to do with the economic slowdown. But if Bush didn't cause the underlying problem, he sure dindn't try to make it better, and through his actions has in fact managed to make it worse. Money that could've gone towards health coverage has instead gone into the pockets of the the wealthies Americans, one of the most undertaxed upper classes in the major industrialized countries. Bush has stood in the way of measures that could've helped bring down prescription drug prices. The list goes on and on.
In light of this report, you could say that defeating Bush this November is literally essential to the country's health.
--Originally posted on Another Liberal Blog.