Loading ...I found some interesting data today that backed up a suspicion I had, and I thought I would take the opportunity to share it. The suspicion came from some of my progressive friends who have been arguing that Congressman (and gubernatorial candidate) Artur Davis is somehow abandoning the needs of poor people in his district by promising to once again vote against healthcare reform.
Let me preface by saying, I am 100% in favor of passing the healthcare legislation that the President is recommending, which runs closer to the bill that passed the Senate than the one that passed the House, but eliminating some of the “giveaways” the Senate included. And there are many, many important provisions of the legislation that have nothing to do with getting more people insured. However, the idea that Rep. Davis’s district somehow needs this legislation more than other parts of the country because he represents so many poor people is a bit misguided. Why?
Poor people have insurance! It’s called Medicaid. It isn’t perfect, but it’s not the poor that are losing out the most in the system that we have, that honor belongs to the almost poor and those who have pre-existing conditions, amongst other groups. The U.S. Census Bureau offered the data I was interested in to try and back this up. No doubt, there are many Americans who don’t have insurance, and many of them are poor. The map below shows the percentage of people who are under age 65, below 200% of poverty and uninsured by county:
In case you need it, here is a map of the congressional districts of Alabama to overlay in your mind:
Notice that the LOWEST percentage of poor uninsured Alabamians are in the counties of the 7th congressional district (Clarke, Choctaw, Wilcox, Dallas, Perry, Hale, Greene, Sumter, Tuscaloosa, Perkins and Jefferson). And which counties have the highest percentage of poor people without insurance? Baldwin, Shelby and Lee counties…extremely interesting to my eyes. What could explain why poor people who live in three of the richest counties in the state don’t get the same level of insurance as people in other parts of the state? I honestly don’t have any idea, but it surprised me and would be interesting to explore further.
I’m not saying this is the final word on what is best for the 7th congressional district, but when you combine these facts with the fact that Rep. Davis continues to maintain that the vast majority of people who contact his office are opposed to the legislation, some of the criticism I see of the congressman’s position are not based in reality. I don’t maintain that people don’t have the right to criticize or that reasonable people can differ on how the congressman should vote, but I do maintain you should have some facts to back up your assertions.
Your thoughts are appreciated below.
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