Who was Grayson really Apologizing to?

Rep Alan Grayson’s Apology



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…

Well, I would like to Apologize —

I would like to Apologize to the Dead.

44789 Americans die every year because they HAVE NO Health Insurance,

according to this Harvard Study.  http://grayson.house.gov

That is more than 10 x the number of Americans who’ve died in the War in Iraq

It’s more than 10 x the number of Americans who died in 9/11

but that was just once.

THIS IS EVERY SINGLE YEAR!

Take a look at this — read it and weep.

and I mean that Read it and WEEP!

Let’s remember we should ‘care about people’ — EVEN after they’re born.

Here are the Facts, Alan Grayson was trying to get us to focus on:

Health Insurance and Mortality in US Adults (pdf)

Andrew P. Wilper, MD, MPH, Steffie Woolhandler, MD, MPH, Karen E. Lasser, MD, MPH, Danny McCormick, MD, MPH, David H. Bor, MD, and David U. Himmelstein, MD

[pg 1]

The United States stands alone among industrialized nations in not providing health coverage to all of its citizens. Currently, 46 million Americans lack health coverage.1 Despite repeated attempts to expand health insurance, uninsurance remains commonplace among US adults. Health insurance facilitates access to health care services and helps protect against the high costs of catastrophic illness.

[pg 6]

Conclusions

Lack of health insurance is associated with as many as 44789 deaths per year in the United States […] Despite widespread acknowledgment that enacting universal coverage would be life saving, doing so remains politically thorny.

At the time of this research, all authors were with the Department of Medicine at Cambridge Health Alliance, affiliated with Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA.

Hmmmm? Doctor’s in favor of Universal Health Care — Who Knew?

Doctors strongly In Favor of the Public Option, just like the Nation

Cold hard Facts like Numbers, are a funny thing, they all sound the same, when someone is just saying them, in speech without any visual aides.

But 44789 Americans dying every year, well how much is that really? Is that a Lot?

Whenever I’m facing big numbers like that I usually try to break it down into units or scales, that mean something to me in my “everyday experience”. So here goes …

44789 / 365 = 122.7 people per day

Die for “Lack of health insurance” …

What does 120 People a Day look like, anyways?

That about what it takes to fill up 2 city buses

Or 120 People a Day looks like a typical Townhall Meeting (BTB — Before TeaBaggers)

Or 120 People a Day looks like a small town rally

Or 120 People a Day looks like an average College Lecture

Sometimes making it more personal, can make those “boring stats” real. Think of your close circle of friends (or think back in the day when …)

The typical “clique of friends” is around a dozen or so people, give or take …

So imagine 10 social units like that, just ending each and every day, due to lack of adequate Health Insurance. That’s kind of sad.

Those 120 people today may not have been someone close to you — BUT they were close to someone! They were someone’s friends and family.

OK here’s another stats technique — try to put the Big Number on a scale that people can recognize …

44789 Americans die every year — well when do we see that many people at the same time?

Answer: sporting events. Most folks can relate to that yardstick.

Picture of Dolphin Stadium

Main Tenant : Miami Dolphins

Primary Sport or Event : American Football

Year First Built : 1985

Capacity : 47662

http://www.stadiumdb.com/dolph…

America loses the equivalent of a Stadium of People

EACH and EVERY YEAR

Due to the Lack of Adequate Health Care ….

Weep for them.

“I mean it, look at that picture and WEEP for them.”

Think about THEM, the next time you talk to your Representatives.

Who Speaks for them? … WHO apologizes to their friends and families?