A thought about health care

"House Majority Whip Steve Scalise was taken to a Washington, D.C., hospital [after a shooting at a congressional softball practice], where he undoubtedly and appropriately received the best care available. But let's not forget that Scalise, as majority whip, was largely responsible for whipping up votes among Republican members of Congress to repeal the Affordable Care Act, a move that-if that bill or the secret measure being cooked up in the Senate becomes law-will deprive millions of Americans of health care.

The analogy isn't perfect. Any victim of a gunshot, even an uninsured one, would get emergency treatment because hospitals do not turn such people away. But that's not so for victims of cancer and congestive heart failure and lung disease and an assortment of conditions and ailments, who may be deprived of treatment or go bankrupt trying to pay for it themselves thanks to the actions of Scalise and his colleagues, all of whom have generous health insurance benefits on which they can rely....

Dieter is a former Statehouse reporter.