Link: deaths without the ACA, plus rant

New study finds 45,000 deaths annually linked to lack of health coverage by David Cecere, Cambridge Health Alliance

Evil. Repealing the ACA is pure evil. It does need improvement. We need single payer. We need to get the health insurance companies out of the loop because they're sucking money out without providing any benefit. But, just taking the ACA away and letting us go back to the previous untenable situation, with added gotcha that lots of people got diagnosed with something while pre-existing conditions *didn't* prevent you from ever getting care again, that's evil.

People are easier to control if they're sick, or bankrupt, or dying. People don't vote, don't go through the steps now needed to get an id to vote, if they're too busy trying to get themselves or their loved ones needed medicine, or figuring out how to cope without it.

I'm "lucky" - my health issues aren't helped by western medicine anyway. But I would like to know I'll get the care I need if I get in a bike crash, or I do get an illness that needs treatment. I do have issues that western medicine could help with, but they're not covered by insurance, so I've never pursued them very far. Imagine if healthcare were focused on health, and care, rather than profits for third parties.

This whole mess is racist as fuck, too. Not even getting into the layers of Black people getting worse care and systemically having less money, but destroying ObamaCare because Heaven forbid a Black man get credit for the amazing outcomes he achieved.

Link: homeless deaths in Portland, heartbreaking

Four homeless people die of exposure in Portland in first 10 days of 2017 by Lauren Dake.

Four homeless people have died of exposure on the streets of Portland, Oregon, in the first 10 days of 2017, a toll that has horrified the city and focused attention on its housing crisis.

“Any loss of life is unacceptable,” the newly inaugurated Portland mayor, Ted Wheeler, said. “This is a wealthy nation and we’re a prosperous and progressive community.”

Read recently (on Twitter I think) that before Reagan, homelessness was rare. Yeah, there are a lot more people in the world, and a lot of economic chaos under the bridge. But think about that. Within my memory. Rare.

We Americans are failing our people so hard. And it's an intentional pillaging and subjugating. For money, for power, treating people as less-than, closing any route to meet basic needs, no matter how hard they/we work.