The cost of doing nothing

via Cesca

This piece at the New York Times by Reed Abelson is a must-read. The reality of not passing the bill:

There will be a cost in lives, too. Mr. Pollack’s organization estimates that as many as 275,000 people will die prematurely over the next 10 years because they do not have insurance.

That's 2,291 people per month. More than 9/11 every month. And these numbers are conservative compared with the Harvard numbers.

The typical price of family coverage now runs about $13,000 a year, but premiums are expected to nearly double, to $24,000, by 2020, according to the Commonwealth Fund.

The insurance you have now... sucks. And it will only get more expensive.

The higher premiums will also persuade more businesses, especially smaller ones, to decide not to offer insurance.

So you'll be forced to buy insurance on your own instead of sharing the burden with your employer. Consequently, you'll be forced to economize and go with a plan with a high deductible. Which case, along with low annual and lifetime limits, you can still go bankrupt. You know how I know this? This is exactly what's happening now to real people every damn day. And Abelson's piece lays out how it's only going to get worse.

There's no exaggeration here. There's no "fear-mongering" here (in that fear-mongering is all about exaggerating irrational threats for political gain). Some things in this world should be feared. And the status quo is worthy of our fear.

It can't be reiterated enough: The Republicans want the status quo to continue. Once again, they're on the wrong side of history. Once again, as with Iraq, the economy, corporate regulation, and climate, the Republicans are wrong, wrong, wrong.

Why do we allow all this handwringing and fear=mongering about what might go wrong if we pass the bill when we know damn well the cataclysm that will erupt if we don't pass it?