You may or may not be aware of this, but there is a global pandemic going on right now. The coronavirus has an incubation period of anywhere from 14-24 days and is highly contagious even when the patient is displaying no symptoms. And there are cases both in the northern and southern hemispheres. This is not a seasonal illness. It has a kill rate of roughly 2-3%. 84% of cases are either mild or asymptomatic. The other 16% result in serious viral pneumonia which often requires hospitalization. The CDC is projecting that this virus is going to end up infecting anywhere from 40-70% of the global population.
Yes. You read that right. The global population. 40-70% of ALL OF HUMANITY is projected to become infected with this virus.
A direct and immediate result of this is Chinese productivity is down and global supply chains are being disrupted.
The result? The stock market is currently crashing. The most recent losses in just one day? Almost 1200 points down. This global pandemic (at least, to all appearances) seems poised to plunge the world into a global economic depression. Global health crisis. Global economic crisis.
To me, there are two takeaways from this:
1. It is now much less likely that Donald Trump will be reelected in November.
2. This is a clear illustration of why we need Medicare For All.
Our current system is not only economically inefficient (which it is; Americans pay twice as much per capita as do the citizens of EVERY OTHER DEVELOPED COUNTRY ON EARTH; Medicare for all would save anywhere from $12 trillion dollars to $2 trillion dollars over the course of a decade). No. It's a public health hazard.
In the United States of America, 30 million people don't have health insurance, and even among the people who do have health insurance, many of them have high deductibles and copayments.
In the case of a pandemic (like this one), this means that those people may not go to the doctor, get diagnosed and be quarantined. Why? Because they'll be forced to decide between their health (and the health of everyone else) and their pocket books.
And with a disease that only has a kill rate of 2%? You'd better bet on a lot of those uninsured people rolling the dice.
Medicare for all/universal healthcare coverage would stem the spread of communicable diseases.
This is one reason, among others, why I'm voting for #Bernie2020. #NotMeUs
Yes. You read that right. The global population. 40-70% of ALL OF HUMANITY is projected to become infected with this virus.
A direct and immediate result of this is Chinese productivity is down and global supply chains are being disrupted.
The result? The stock market is currently crashing. The most recent losses in just one day? Almost 1200 points down. This global pandemic (at least, to all appearances) seems poised to plunge the world into a global economic depression. Global health crisis. Global economic crisis.
To me, there are two takeaways from this:
1. It is now much less likely that Donald Trump will be reelected in November.
2. This is a clear illustration of why we need Medicare For All.
Our current system is not only economically inefficient (which it is; Americans pay twice as much per capita as do the citizens of EVERY OTHER DEVELOPED COUNTRY ON EARTH; Medicare for all would save anywhere from $12 trillion dollars to $2 trillion dollars over the course of a decade). No. It's a public health hazard.
In the United States of America, 30 million people don't have health insurance, and even among the people who do have health insurance, many of them have high deductibles and copayments.
In the case of a pandemic (like this one), this means that those people may not go to the doctor, get diagnosed and be quarantined. Why? Because they'll be forced to decide between their health (and the health of everyone else) and their pocket books.
And with a disease that only has a kill rate of 2%? You'd better bet on a lot of those uninsured people rolling the dice.
Medicare for all/universal healthcare coverage would stem the spread of communicable diseases.
This is one reason, among others, why I'm voting for #Bernie2020. #NotMeUs
) to serve during the dotcom boom