WHAT NOW? The attack on reason, when it comes to healthcare, is pretty much silent. From outrageous claims about COVID to the stripping away of healthcare from those who can least afford it, Trump continues his war on science which results in more deaths. Where are the voices of reason?
Instead of taking a moment to grieve the nearly 200,000 Americans who were confirmed to have died from Covid-19 Donald Trump indicat3ed he didn’t care. “It affects virtually nobody,” Trump said of the coronavirus. “It’s an amazing thing.”
By Tuesday morning, the disease had officially had killed 200,000 people in the US — a number more than the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, the Spanish-American War, World War I, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, the Afghanistan War, and the Iraq War combined — and “affected” even more.
If this was not bad enough the New York Times published a new exposé revealing that Trump officials had overruled medical researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, forcing the agency to publish misleading and dangerous information designed to discourage people who have been exposed to the virus from being tested.
But wait..it gets worse. According to Census Bureau data, coverage has declined to the point where nearly 1 in 10 people in the United States — 9.2 percent, or more than 29 million people — lacked health insurance last year. More Americans were uninsured in 2019 than in 2018, the third year in a row both the number and share who are uninsured have increased. That’s a sharp reversal from 2016’s historic low uninsured rate of 8.6 percent, according to analysis by our colleagues Aviva Aron-Dine and Matt Broaddus at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
Because of the administration’s attacks on health coverage, the United States entered the pandemic with 2.3 million more uninsured people than in 2016, including 700,000 more uninsured children.
The administration’s attack has been relentless and multifaceted. It has encouraged states to restrict Medicaid coverage, including taking coverage away from people who don’t meet harsh work requirements or pay premiums or who miss paperwork deadlines. The administration has also sown fear among families with immigrants that enrolling in Medicaid or Marketplace health coverage could prevent them or their family members from remaining legally in the United States.
The voices of reason are silent
Sure some pharma CEOs have spoken up but only because Trump’s actions are going to endanger their business moving forward. Frankly, I would have put a statement from all employees on the front page of every website with a link to credible information based on science, not politics.
Thank to social media a lot of people are aware that Trump is an idiot and is playing politics with the FDA and CDC. This nation’s response to COVID is a disgrace and is a danger to healthcare the lack of which we have never witnessed.
I keep waiting for the overpaid CEOs of drug companies, health insurers and other healthcare organizations to come forward and tell us that what this administration is doing is a danger to the American public but, alas there is silence with only an occasional quote from a CEO.
When a vaccine becomes available how many people are going to stay away from it because they don’t trust the FDA? How does anyone disrespect the families of those who lost their battle against COVID-19?
The media, for the most part, has done as lot to divide us further. If Trump has been good for one thing it’s been the news media who loves scary headlines because they lead to clicks. For the rest of us? Our answer will come November 3rd but that’s not enough.