One American family is forced into bankruptcy every minute (1) by medical expenses, and Republican senators, congressmen and Joe Liberman are well paid to keep it that way.
As Democratic leaders immerse themselves in the details of health care legislation, they have ceded the messaging to Republicans, who lie.
Lieberman himself receives $400 an hour from the health care lobby (2) to make sure Americans keep dying unnecessary deaths as their families are impoverished.
It's time we started telling the story in terms that people understand.
A few other bullet points that are worth repeating often.
--The top 10 health insurance companies in the U.S. make more than $1 million in profit every hour. (3)
--On individual and small business plans, insurance companies pay out less than 66 cents on the dollar for medical care. (4) They keep the rest for profit and expenses.
--Two leading health insurance companies attempt to cancel every policy in which a member of the family develops leukemia, ovarian cancer, brain cancer, or becomes pregnant with twins. (5)
--The U.S. Chamber of Commerce alone spends a pile of $10 bills a mile high every year to deny people coverage while protecting huge industry profits. (6)
I thought Sen. Dick Durbin did an excellent job giving the Top Ten points in favor of the health care legislation during the Senate debate. I can't find his list online anywhere. I do find a lot of Republican crap.
--Footnotes:
(1) 1 million non-corporate bankruptcies per year -- U.S. bankruptcy court statistics. 62% caused by medical expenses. American Journal of Medicine study. Math.
(2) Lieberman received $5.9 million since 2000 -- Common Cause report. Math
(3) Fortune article. Math.
(4) NY Times article
(5) Congressional investigation
(6) News reports of $123 million spent. Thickness of bill .0043 inch(excluding space and crinkling). Math.