With all the talk recently of the Harvard Study that shows that a lack of insurance causes 44,789 deaths annually in this country, I thought I'd do a small bit of research to find out where the insurance industry ranks in killing people.
Follow me after the break...
So I went to the CDC Website and found this page.
Number of deaths for leading causes of death
* Heart disease: 631,636
* Cancer: 559,888
* Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases): 137,119
* Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 124,583
* Accidents (unintentional injuries): 121,599
* Diabetes: 72,449
* Alzheimer's disease: 72,432
* Influenza and Pneumonia: 56,326
* Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis: 45,344
* Septicemia: 34,234
Using very little hocus pocus (my son's new favorite phrase), it's easy to insert the health insurance industry into the above table.
Number of deaths for leading causes of death
* Heart disease: 631,636
* Cancer: 559,888
* Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases): 137,119
* Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 124,583
* Accidents (unintentional injuries): 121,599
* Diabetes: 72,449
* Alzheimer's disease: 72,432
* Influenza and Pneumonia: 56,326
* Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis: 45,344
* Health Insurance Industry: 44,789
That places them at #10 with the potential to rise very quickly should our elected officials fail in their current task.
It's easy to get the gov't to act on so many other issues that effect our health. How many laws have you seen passed that ban the use of cell phones while driving? Ever wonder how many deaths are caused by using cell phones while driving? The answer is 6,000.
So if our elected officials are so up in arms about 6,000 deaths, why can't we get them motivated by the 44,789 deaths caused by a lack of insurance?
I've already incorporated "The Insurance Industry is the 10th leading cause of death in America today" into by daily vernacular. I suggest you do the same.