Representatives of the West Virginia AFL-CIO, the West Virginia Council of Churches, West Virginia Citizen’s Action Group and others stated their opinions in response to a new report by the national non-profit organization Families USA.
According to Perry Bryant, Executive Director of West Virginians for Affordable Health Care, “Two thousand seven hundred West Virginians will die prematurely over the next decade because they lack health insurance.”
The figure comes from the report, “Lives on the Line: The Deadly Cost of Delaying Health Reform,” released Friday by the group with a stated mission of working to achieve high-quality affordable health care. The report claims that a total of 275,000 across the U.S. will lose their lives during the next decade due to inadequate health care.
Bryant expressed criticism of the oft-used term “incremental reform,” claiming that this approach means we will not expand health insurance to the uninsured. He says this would leave 53,000,000 Americans uninsured.
Pat White, Executive Director of West Virginia Health Right, says all of the state’s ten free clinics are faced with the same situation, namely an increased number of patients who are uninsured, very sick and very poor.
Others who spoke out in support of comprehensive health reform Friday included representatives of West Virginians for Affordable Health Care, the National Association of Social Workers, West Virginia Chapter, and the American Friends Service Committee.
The Reverend James Patterson, pastor of the Institute Church of the Nazarene and president of the Partnership for African-American Churches referred to the words of his “boss.”
Quoting from the Bible, the minister said, “As you would that others would do unto you, do ye also unto them.” Patterson said that means leaders and legislators have a responsibility to make sure others have health insurance.
The chair of the West Virginia Republican Party, Dr. Doug McKinney, M.D, has a very different opinion of health care reform and the report claiming hundreds of thousands will die, saying, “I believe those figures about as much as I believe in global warming.”
The physician said, “If you still believe in global warming after the winter we’ve had here, you need to have your head examined.” Dr. McKinney says he and the national GOP support health reform that would include Health Savings Accounts and Tort reform.
Perry Bryant and the others who spoke Friday in Charleston expressed regret for the partisan nature of the health reform debate. He expects Congress to pass the legislation on a partisan vote and he finds that, in his words “…very regretful.”
Families USA describes the report it released Friday as a conservative estimate of the magnitude of lives lost as a result of lack of insurance.