 A new report from public citizen confirms what we already knew was the case that our dysfunctional for-profit healthcare system has exacerbated the bad effects of this deadly, devastating pandemic. And they state that for-profit healthcare actually worsened the pandemic and that hundreds of thousands of deaths and millions of infections would likely have been prevented if we had a Medicare for All single-payer healthcare system. Again, not necessarily the most surprising conclusion, but it is nice to actually see an analysis confirm what it was obvious. So they state the U.S. remains the only one of the 25 wealthiest countries to not provide universal healthcare and the healthcare system's focus on profits and not health has cost Americans their lives. Despite having less than 5% of the world's population, the U.S. has had 25% of the world's confirmed cases and 20% of deaths. Public citizens' new report demonstrates how, before the pandemic, approximately 87 million Americans were uninsured or underinsured. About one-third of COVID-19 deaths and 40% of infections were tied to a lack of insurance. About half of Americans received their healthcare through their employer. With more than 22 million Americans losing their job during the pandemic, millions lost their health insurance. Racial health disparities, including access to care, have led to disproportionate deaths in communities of color. We have the highest rate of unmet need of any comparably wealthy countries, with one-third of Americans reporting that they or a family member has avoided going to the doctor when sick or injured in the past year due to cost. Americans are significantly more likely to die of chronic respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease, diabetes or cancer than people in comparably wealthy countries with universal healthcare systems, and a lack of essential funding led to insufficient hospital capacity. The U.S. had only around half the hospital beds per capita of pure nations and far fewer than countries like Japan or Germany. Thousands of deaths would have been avoided if Medicare for All had been in place prior to the COVID-19 crisis, highlighting the need to enact policy before the next pandemic hits. Under such a system, hospitals, particularly rural hospitals, would receive the funds they need to stay open via yearly budgets instead of relying on admission rates and elective procedures. Providers would better be able to coordinate patient care. No American would have to skip a doctor visit because of cost or lack of insurance, and people of color would no longer face disproportionately high rates of uninsurance, reducing an important contributor to racial disparities and access to healthcare. So I will link you to their full analysis down below, but that was basically the main takeaways from their analysis. It is exactly what we should have expected. I mean, it's not necessarily surprising to suggest that, you know, a healthcare system based entirely on the prioritization of profits over people would yield these results. Not surprising in the slightest whatsoever. And understand that this is the logical result of our for-profit healthcare system. If you don't have insurance or you do have insurance and you can't afford the co-pays they're going to have to pay, what's that going to do in terms of us handling the pandemic? Well, if somebody is experiencing symptoms, they may not go to the doctor. They might not even know that they have COVID and therefore spread COVID-19 to their peers. It is logical to deduce that in any situation, whenever there's a health crisis in America, we are going to be worse off because we don't have a universal healthcare system. It's absolutely ridiculous that in 2021 in the richest country in America, you have Americans regularly dying because they don't have healthcare. I mean, that happens when there isn't a pandemic. But when there is a pandemic, of course, the situation is exponentially worse. And that's exactly what this analysis shows. And I've said this once, I'll say it again, that it was never acceptable for any Democrat, for any politician, let alone Democrats to be against Medicare for all. Because if you're against Medicare for all, then you're admitting that you're okay with thousands of Americans dying every single year because they don't have healthcare. But during a pandemic, to not have a change of heart, to not adjust your position, that just makes you insane. It makes you insane. You are comparable to the looniest people in society. If you don't support Medicare for all and you claim to care about human rights and you want the human race and Americans to flourish, then you are as bad as the flat earthers. You are as bad as the worst conspiracy theorists. You're that stupid because that's how illogical you are to be against Medicare for all. So it is not acceptable. Any Democrat who is against Medicare for all should not have a career in politics. They should be defeated. Any think tank, any news pundit who is doing propaganda against Medicare for all, they should be discredited and they should be thoroughly defeated. They should be canceled for lack of a better word because to defend the status quo means you are defending deaths. You are defending a system that prioritizes profits over the lives of human beings. And that is absolutely morally unacceptable to me. So this just further demonstrates the need for Medicare for all. Will our government officials take any action on this? No, because we live in a late stage capitalist dystopian society where policy outcomes aren't dictated by need or desires of the masses. They're dictated by the interests of business elites and special interests. And that's not me saying that. This is according to a Princeton University study that was published in 2014 by Drs. Gillins and Paige. So I mean, this again, super obvious, not necessarily shocking results. Nonetheless, it does emphasize how necessary Medicare for all would be. That is, if you care about saving lives, which we should care about saving lives.