A well-written Op-Ed in the NYTimes asks tough questions of security management in America:
In 2006, Nikki White died at age 32. “Nikki didn’t die from lupus,” her doctor, Amylyn Crawford, told Mr. Reid. “Nikki died from complications of the failing American health care system.”
“She fell through the cracks,” Nikki’s mother, Gail Deal, told me grimly. “When you bury a child, it’s the worst thing in the world. You never recover.”
We now have a chance to reform this cruel and capricious system. If we let that chance slip away, there will be another Nikki dying every half-hour.
That’s how often someone dies in America because of a lack of insurance, according to a study by a branch of the National Academy of Sciences. Over a year, that amounts to 18,000 American deaths.
After Al Qaeda killed nearly 3,000 Americans, eight years ago on Friday, we went to war and spent hundreds of billions of dollars ensuring that this would not happen again. Yet every two months, that many people die because of our failure to provide universal insurance — and yet many members of Congress want us to do nothing?
The difference in risk calculations has a lot to do with how we respond to things we perceive as under our control. In other words we fear most those things that we think will threaten our control, such as terrorism. Health issues, on the other hand, often are thought of in controlled terms and choices that we will be able to make — things to be treated or avoided through detection and prevention.
Will you get lupus? Check the data, consult with a professional…
Will you be a victim of a terrorist attack? Your imagination is the limit.
This is compounded by the timing of terrorism versus a disease. Nikki White died many years after first diagnosis. Her story is tragic and sad but it also gives a slightly different worry to most people than the sudden impact of something like a bomb in a crowded building. Fear of sudden death or harm is likely to be treated as a high priority compared with disease and health issues that manifest over time.
Another factor is due to communication and imagery. Burning buildings were broadcast across all media and Al Qaeda quickly became a name recognized in most households. However it is extremely rare to find a single compelling image in American news that can convey something like the 18,000 deaths mentioned above from lack of insurance.
Thus, it seems to me the story does an excellent job of conveying a lack of control, urgency, and shocking imagery of health care issues in America. Unfortunately I suspect the writing still pales in comparison to the hype and fear of terrorism. That is my guess why many members of Congress who would spend billions on a vague threat of terrorism now fail to support health-care reform that could save more lives.