OPINION: Dr. Labrador’s prescription isn’t a cure for what ails us

May 12--U.S. Rep. Raúl Labrador, Latah County's own Republican congressman, has found a very interesting, dare we say unique, way to get attention for his long-expected but newly announced run for governor of Idaho.

A few days before his announcement he made a remark at a Lewiston town hall meeting that has been greeted with disbelief and derision from coast to coast, namely, that "Nobody dies because they don't have access to health care."

Since most people get access to health care by having medical insurance, the conversation over the remark quickly turns to the American Health Care Act recently passed by the Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives and sent to the Senate.

Politifact.com points out that in the past there has been considerable debate over how many people die from lack of access to health care or lack of insurance with four studies coming up with estimates ranging from 14,000 a year in the U.S. to 44,789, and two others using words like "considerable and significant numbers."

One study seemed to be able to get the impact to around zero, but its author told Politifact, "Commonsense, as well as the accumulated weight of evidence is sufficient to convince any reasonable analyst that lack of health insurance results in excess morbidity (that is, sickness) and mortality."

So, it appears Labrador is quite delusional when saying "nobody dies" because they can't get health care.

Emergency room care is not health care for chronic conditions, and chronic conditions, left untreated, lead to premature death.

The scary thing is that now Labrador wants to lead Idaho state government. With his name recognition and access -- as a congressman -- to deep-pocketed contributors, there's a good chance he'll be elected.

The ACHA puts a lot of power over health care back in the hands of the states. If some of those hands belong to Labrador and his delusions about how health care works, his election as governor might just be enough to make some of us too sick to cure.

___

(c)2017 the Moscow-Pullman Daily News (Moscow, Idaho)

Visit the Moscow-Pullman Daily News (Moscow, Idaho) at www.dnews.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.