'Death panels' already exist: Non-insured lose

A Harvard study group's analysis found that patients who have no insurance die at an alarming 80 percent higher frequency than patients who have insurance even though both groups have identical traumatic injuries.

Here is how I assessed that research.

Example: Two patients arrive at the same emergency room with identical gunshot wounds but the one who has insurance is immediately prepped for surgery and wounds attended to, while the poor soul without insurance is evidently not provided the same care.

So, in essence, health care providers, or administrators, convene for today's version of death panels and, based solely on insurance/money concerns, proceed to ration health care. If the Harvard study is accurate, then what we have is a national emergency.

Conservatives' fear-mongering ended up being correct, partially, on “death panels” and “rationing” after all, but as the Harvard research group found, both are in existence today. Neither will be present if health care legislation passes without too much conservative influence.

Unfortunately, the people who oversee this are either too indebted to corporations, who are strictly conducting businesses for profit, or liberals, who are too weak to fight for just causes. Both parties will continue to overlook such tragedies unless enough well-off people's lives are so traumatized.

Thomas Sass

Iowa City