On Sunday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) held a rally against the GOP health care bill in Morgantown, West Virginia, where the self described democratic socialist said that the proposed bill would be worse than the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
“Now obviously nobody can predict exactly how many people will die if they lose their coverage. Nobody can make that prediction, but what experts at the Harvard School of Public Health estimate, is that if 23 million Americans were to be thrown off the insurance they currently have, which is what the House [GOP] bill would do, up to 28,000 Americans every single year could die. That is nine times more than the tragic losses of we suffered on 9/11, every single year.
There are plenty of areas to criticize the GOP health care bill. Democrats can certainly mention 23 million fewer Americans having insurance, while conservatives can slam the tepid reduction in Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion, which enrolled able-bodied Americans into the program. Medicaid was meant for low-income families and disabled citizens. At the same time, throwing in that a piece of legislation would be akin to suffering a terror attack is grossly hyperbolic and unseemly. There is a difference between policy impact and that of a fully fueled 747 crashing into a building and killing thousands. It’s a gross overreach in health scare tactics, though we all know that Sanders is just waiting for this bill to fail, so he could put forward his single payer bill. Ironic, since the issue of wait times could lead to and have been responsible for deaths for those in a single payer system. Just look at the scandal that’s engulfed Veterans Affairs.
Sanders in KY on health care bill: As soon as we defeat this disastrous bill, I'll introduce Medicare for all..a single payer system
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) July 9, 2017
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