'Unavailable healthcare and food supply afflict the American poor'

An American political analyst and activist says in many countries healthcare is a right, but in the United States, it’s a commodity to be purchased or supplied by the government.

Myles Hoenig, who is based in Baltimore, Maryland, made the remarks on Wednesday in an interview with Press TV while commenting on a new research which shows the gap in life expectancy between the rich and poor Americans has grown wider since the start of the century.

The wealthiest men have outlived the poorest men by nearly one and a half decade, according to the study published on Monday.

The average lifespans of men and women in the United States in the top 5 percent income group went up by over two years between 2001 and 2014, researchers found. But at the bottom 5 percent income bracket, life expectancy almost stagnated.

“It should be no surprise that one’s life expectancy is directly related to income and available health care,” Hoenig said.  

“Although marginally different, why is it that life expectancy in Cuba is greater than in the US? Why is Canada and France ranked number one 12 and 7 respectively, while the US is at 40? As it is in many countries, health care is a right. In the United States, it’s a commodity to be purchased or supplied by the government only under dire circumstances,” he stated.

“The Affordable Care Act (ACA, aka Obamacare) is the health industry’s corporate dream legislation. In what other country than the US can one be heavily fined for not purchasing a product one doesn’t want or feel they need?” he asked.

Signed into law by US President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), or Obamacare, is a reform law that is intended to expand and improve access to healthcare and reduce the cost of health insurance.

According to the White House, Obamacare has given insurance to 17.6 million Americans who did not have it previously.

33 million Americans do not have any health coverage

“The ACA does provide coverage to many who did have it before; notably, those with pre-existing conditions. Yet still, in 2015, 33 million Americans did not have any health coverage. As the law is designed, it is up to the states to decide if they wish to expand Medicare. Not surprisingly, many states with Republican governors refused to take part in it, denying health care to so many. As we can see, health care coverage is haphazard and random,” said Hoenig, who is running for Congress as a Green Party candidate.

“ACA was hotly debated and ended up becoming a bill designed to save the honor and prestige of the first African-American president. At the time, a majority of the American public, including a smaller majority of Republicans, supported a single payer system, universal coverage with the government as the ‘insurer’,” he added.  

“Yet in the end, regardless of citizen sentiment, the president and his corporate sponsors won out. Even those who had advocated for a single payer system went with the corporations to give them what they wanted, which included the nails in the coffin of real universal coverage at an affordable cost. A leader in the Congressional Black Caucus, Elijah Cummings of Maryland, chose to side with the health insurance industry rather than his constituents,” the activist stated.

“Interestingly, Mr. Cummings represents parts of Baltimore City with some of the lowest income levels in the state. Life expectancy for black Americans throughout Maryland -- not just in his district -- is three years less than whites. Why then did Congressman Cummings support ACA and not a universal health care system? It all comes down to how Congress as a whole represents business interests before citizen constituents,” he continued

Food deserts in cities 

Hoenig said, “The lack of healthcare is but one causative factor for lower life expectancy.”

“In urban settings we see what’s called food deserts. There is a lack of quality grocery stores providing healthy, even organic, produce. Many people need to rely on small shops that have less quality control and are enormously overpriced, as the shopkeepers cannot buy in bulk as the larger chains are able to do,” he pointed out.

“With limited healthcare and poor food selections, it is no wonder that those with less money do not live as long as those with, and often end their lives in worse sense health-wise,” the analyst concluded. 

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