A second highly respected journal is now reporting that the lack of universal health care in the United States was the key factor in the COVID-related deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans. The Scientific American article describing a study led by a top Yale researcher echoes earlier findings that appeared in the medical journal The Lancet. These studies show that inadequate health insurance and access to care over the years has left Americans in poorer health and much more vulnerable to the pandemic than people in countries with universal health care. The latest study estimates that 338,000 COVID-related U.S. deaths could have been prevented had a universal healthcare system been in place, with savings of more than $100 billion dollars in hospitalizations.
Read the Scientific American article here. Common Dreams picked up the story and published this account.