This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The Senate's crack at health care overhaul is finally out and, on first reading, looks as dangerous as the House AHCA. Mitch McConnell's team produced a bill that would also deny access to health care to about 23 million hard-working Americans, who just happen to be unlucky enough to work for employers who don't offer insurance.
The "Better Care Reconciliation Act" makes even deeper, crueler cuts to Medicaid, our last resort safety net for children, the elderly poor, the disabled and pregnant mothers.
This bill would disenfranchise and harm millions of Americans, and would contribute to the deaths of an estimated 27,000 citizens each year. Deaths from what should be correctable and controllable medical conditions. That computes to 10 dead Americans, every week, for each "aye" vote in the Senate.
This bill is callous and shameful. No wonder that it was spawned in the dark. Now in the light, will Sen. Orrin Hatch and Sen. Mike Lee stand up and use their votes to defeat this travesty? They have the power to protect Americans from illness and injury, which happen to kill so many more of us than does terrorism.
Will they be good Americans, or just loyal followers?
William E. Cosgrove, M.D.
Cottonwood Heights