Republicans Play Politics with American Lives ... Again

Despite the Supreme Court’s decision that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is constitutional, Texas Governor Rick Perry recently announced that he has “no intention” of expanding Medicaid or setting up the health insurances exchanges required by the PPACA.

Perry and other Republicans continue to block health care reform in Texas despite a federal government report ranking our state dead last in overall health (1). Republicans nationwide continue to fight health care reform despite a recent study finding that more than 26,000 adults die prematurely in the United States each year because they lack health insurance (2). A 2009 study conducted at Harvard Medical School and published in the American Journal of Public Health found that 45,000 annual deaths are associated with lack of health insurance in the U.S. (3).

Republicans are putting politics ahead of American lives. This has to end. Please write your Republican governors, congressmen, and senators and demand that they stop playing politics with human lives. And please do not reward their despicable behavior with your vote this November.

Sources:

(1) http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/health/entries/2012/07/05/texas_gets_weak_rating_on_heal.html

(2) http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Daily-Reports/2012/June/21/mortality-and-the-uninsured.aspx

(3) http://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/abs/10.2105/AJPH.2008.157685?prevSearch=%5BContrib%3A+Wilper%5D+and+%5BFulltext%3A+uninsured%5D&searchHistoryKey