Mitt Romney blithely dismissed the stark reality that 45,000 Americans die each year without insurance when he made these remarks to The Columbus Dispatch as ThinkProgress reports below:
“We don’t have a setting across this country where if you don’t have insurance, we just say to you, ‘Tough luck, you’re going to die when you have your heart attack,’ ” he said as he offered more hints as to what he would put in place of “Obamacare,” which he has pledged to repeal.
“No, you go to the hospital, you get treated, you get care, and it’s paid for, either by charity, the government or by the hospital. We don’t have people that become ill, who die in their apartment because they don’t have insurance.”
Yes, we do have people that become ill and who die in their apartment because they don't have insurance. We do have people that can't afford to go to the doctor because of the high cost of co-pays and deductibles. We do have people that turn down ambulance rides to the hospital because they can't afford it. We do have people that don't go to the emergency room because they can't afford it and don't want their families to go into debt.
The emergency room is not the panacea for addressing chronic conditions. They don't treat cancer patients with rounds of chemotherapy. They don't treat patients with dialysis. They don't treat women that need contraceptive care such as monthly shots. The emergency room is a place where people go when they desperately need health care, and it is a life or death situation. Public hospitals and clinics are shutting down because of budget cuts, so there are fewer places for uninsured Americans to find access to health care.
Under Mitt Romney, many more public hospitals and clinics would be shuttered. Under Mitt Romney, Obamacare would be repealed, and more Americans would die without insurance. In Mitt Romney's world, he just doesn't get how not having access to millions and millions of dollars, and with only $100 in the banking account can prevent someone from having access to health care.
People need to know what Mitt Romney thinks about the uninsured in America. They need to know he's out of touch when it comes to Americans that fight every day just to survive and keep their heads above water.
He just doesn't get it, and he won't ever get it. It's because he's never been one of us, and he never will be.