GOP Health Care Plan Would Cause Unnecessary Ohio Deaths: Analysis

Rest easy if you haven't decided whether to support the health care bill currently being pushed by Senate Leader Mitch McConnell. Vox has an impressive analysis that provides a single finding that may make up your mind.

The finding: The GOP plan would essentially mean a death sentence for 208,500 Americans who will die unnecessarily over the next decade because of cuts in insurance coverage. The body count would begin next year with 18,100 preventable deaths, the analysis found.

In Ohio, the analysis shows 469,600 people would lose their health insurance by 2026, resulting in the preventable deaths of 566 people. (For more local news, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Cleveland Patch, or click here to find your local Ohio Patch. Also, if you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

"Some commentators have argued that it’s inappropriate — beyond the pale — to suggest that people will die as a result of this legislation," the three authors of the analysis wrote. "To the contrary, we contend that no debate over a health care policy can ignore evidence that it could have negative effects on health and mortality."

» Head on over to Vox to read the full analysis by Ann Crawford-Roberts, Nichole Roxas, and Dr. Ichiro Kawachi.

Written by Todd Richissin (Patch National Staff)

Photo: Senate Leader Mitch McConnell, AP