U.S. healthcare, and particularly in Texas, is the exception to the rule that “you get what you pay for”. It’s not only expensive, its not particularly good. We have the financial wherewithal to ensure that every American has full access to treatment. We just need to prioritize it.
The Problem
- U.S. healthcare is too expensive.
- We pay more for U.S. healthcare than any other developed country.[1]
- Over 65% of personal bankruptcies are due to medical bills.[2]
- It’s not even very good.
- Up to 400,000 preventable deaths occur every year in U.S. hospitals, making it the third leading cause of death.[3]
- Our outcomes are worse than any other developed country.[4]
- And it doesn’t even cover millions of Americans.
- Over 40,000 American die every year due to lack of health insurance.[5]
- 25% of Americans are uninsured or underinsured.[6]
- And Texas has the highest population rate of people without health insurance in the U.S.[7]
- Our healthcare system slows down economic growth.[8]
- Americans overwhelmingly support universal healthcare.[9]
- Republicans are fighting to repeal the closest we’ve come to universal healthcare, and John Cornyn is leading the charge.[10]
My Pledge:
I vow to fight for every Texan to have the same access to medical treatment that was afforded my daughter when her life hung in the balance- free, universal healthcare. I am not going to blow smoke and act like I have all the answers on how we get there, because no one does. But I promise you that that is a top priority and my goal, and I will work like hell to figure out the best way to get it done.
[1] https://www.foxnews.com/health/u-s-health-spending-twice-other-countries-with-worse-results,
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/07/american-health-care-spending/590623/https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/04/11/countries-that-spend-the-most-on-public-health/39307147/,
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/us-spends-health-care-countries-fare-study/story?id=53710650,
https://www.businessinsider.com/cost-of-healthcare-countries-ranked-2019-3,
https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2018/03/u-s-pays-more-for-health-care-with-worse-population-health-outcomes/,
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/03/13/the-real-reason-the-u-s-spends-twice-as-much-on-health-care-as-other-wealthy-countries/,
https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/full/10.1377/hlthaff.22.3.89
[2] https://www.businessinsider.com/causes-personal-bankruptcy-medical-bills-mortgages-student-loan-debt-2019-6, https://www.foxnews.com/story/study-medical-bills-underlie-60-percent-of-u-s-bankruptcies,
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/11/this-is-the-real-reason-most-americans-file-for-bankruptcy.html,
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/03/08/468892489/medical-bills-still-take-a-big-toll-even-with-insurance,
https://www.thebalance.com/medical-bankruptcy-statistics-4154729,
https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2019-09-04/hiltzik-medical-bankruptcy-american-scandal
[3]https://journals.lww.com/journalpatientsafety/Fulltext/2013/09000/A_New,_Evidence_based_Estimate_of_Patient_Harms.2.aspx, https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-05-03/medical-errors-are-third-leading-cause-of-death-in-the-us,
https://video.foxnews.com/v/4877915110001/, https://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2016/08/26/new-estimate-finds-medical-error-is-third-leading.html,
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-care/could-medical-errors-be-no-3-cause-death-america-n568031,
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2016/05/03/researchers-medical-errors-now-third-leading-cause-of-death-in-united-states/,
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/05/03/476636183/death-certificates-undercount-toll-of-medical-errors
[4] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-spending/u-s-health-spending-twice-other-countries-with-worse-results-idUSKCN1GP2YN, https://www.foxnews.com/health/u-s-health-spending-twice-other-countries-with-worse-results,
https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2018/03/u-s-pays-more-for-health-care-with-worse-population-health-outcomes/,
https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2019/mar/18/tulsi-gabbard/yes-americans-spend-ton-health-care-worst-outcomes/,
[5] https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2009/09/new-study-finds-45000-deaths-annually-linked-to-lack-of-health-coverage/, https://www.forbes.com/sites/johngoodman/2017/05/11/does-lack-of-health-insurance-kill/#697a1ef99f86,
https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/12/health/us-cant-afford-health-care-trnd/index.html
[6]https://www.usnews.com/news/healthiest-communities/articles/2019-02-07/lack-of-health-insurance-coverage-leads-people-to-avoid-seeking-care,
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/Healthday/story?id=5037694&page=1
https://www.foxbusiness.com/healthcare/number-of-uninsured-americans-rises-for-first-time-in-a-decade,
https://fortune.com/2019/02/07/americans-health-care-underinsured-rate/,
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/budget-and-spending/2017/11/23/guess-how-many-adults-are-underinsured/107709988/
[7] https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/editorials/article/Texas-should-be-ashamed-to-be-No-1-in-uninsured-14443109.php,
https://www.dallasnews.com/business/health-care/2019/09/10/here-s-how-many-texans-don-t-have-health-insurance-according-to-new-census-data/,
https://www.texastribune.org/2019/09/10/texas-has-most-people-without-health-insurance-nation-again/,
https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-has-the-highest-uninsured-rate-in-the-country-lawmakers-havent-addressed-it-this-session/
[8]https://www.heraldextra.com/business/health-med-fit/how-health-care-affects-the-economy/article_b22549e0-67a5-5989-8753-aa9f3214f55c.html,
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2018-10-29/health-care-costs-are-still-eating-the-u-s-economy, https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB9465/index1.html,
https://spectator.org/slow-economic-growth-directly-tied-to-health-care-mess/
[9] https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/28/most-americans-now-support-medicare-for-all-and-free-college-tuition.html,
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2019/11/why-people-support-medicare-all/602413/,
https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/23/politics/kaiser-medicare-for-all-poll/index.html
https://news.gallup.com/poll/4708/healthcare-system.aspx
[10]https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/2017/07/20/his-legacy-at-stake-sen-john-cornyn-should-show-leadership-on-health-care/,
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/456733-graham-promises-obamacare-repeal-if-trump-republicans-win-in-2020,
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2019/07/10/obamacare-republicans-try-kill-court-avoid-blame-backlash-column/1686792001/, https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/10/rate-of-insured-americans-decreases-for-the-first-time-since-obamacare.html,
https://www.wsj.com/articles/number-of-americans-without-insurance-shows-first-increase-since2008-11568128381,
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/hsph-in-the-news/us-uninsured-rate-rising/,
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2018/01/16/3-2-million-more-people-were-uninsured-at-the-end-of-2017-than-at-the-end-of-2016/
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