Johnson City Press Thursday, October 23, 2014 Columns Community
Voices  Why does GOP seek to hurt working poor?  February 24th,
2014 9:38 am by Judy Garland  Why does GOP seek to hurt working
poor?  The United States has the distinction of being the only
industrialized nation that doesn’t provide basic health care to
all its citizens. Some nations accomplish universal coverage
through a single-payer system. Others engage private but not-
for-profit insurance providers for the job. Whatever the method,
the upshot is that everyone, regardless of ability to pay,
receives the same preventive and health maintenance care. No one
goes bankrupt because he or she gets sick or dies from lack of
care. Health care costs in those countries run about half per
capita what we pay, yet our health outcomes rank very poorly in
comparison on almost all indicators, like life expectancy and
infant mortality. How can this be when the other side of the
story is that the very best, most innovative, most cutting-edge
health care in the