Where is Glenn Kessler, the person posing as a fact checker for The Washington Post, when you need him? Before publishing a claim that Joe Biden has left a “remarkable legacy” on the public health sector, shouldn’t we at least analyze his results?

Here’s this, from an article at the paper last Thursday:

Biden leaves behind a remarkable legacy in public health

History will remember Biden for his aggressive actions against covid-19, most notably for his part in a mass vaccination campaign that saved an estimated 3.2 million Americans in two years. But his work on health matters went far beyond the coronavirus pandemic. Two areas that deserve highlighting are his efforts to curb the opioid epidemic and to make prescription drugs more affordable.

Overdose deaths numbered roughly 78,000 at the end of Trump’s term in 2020 and have remained over 100,000 from 2021 to 2023—yet Dr Wen says overdose deaths have fallen under Biden. From an article at The New York Times in 2021:

In the 12-month period that ended in April, more than 100,000 Americans died of overdoses, up almost 30 percent from the 78,000 deaths in the prior year, according to provisional figures from the National Center for Health Statistics. The figure marks the first time the number of overdose deaths in the United States has exceeded 100,000 a year, more than the toll of car crashes and gun fatalities combined. Overdose deaths have more than doubled since 2015.

If Wen makes claims that are undeniably false, why would anyone believe anything else she says in her article? Here are the facts regarding the (in)affordability of prescription drugs, from Google’s AI:

According to recent data, drug costs have consistently risen faster than general inflation since 2020, with price increases exceeding the rate of inflation for many medications, meaning drug prices are significantly outpacing the general cost of living increase; this trend is particularly notable in 2022 where price hikes were significantly higher compared to previous years. 

Drug costs have continued to skyrocket since Biden took office, rising 32% in 2022 alone:

According to a new U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) analysis, in 2022, the list prices of over 1,200 prescription drugs increased by an average of 32%—far outpacing the year’s 8.5% inflation rate.

Lowering prices on insulin and a few other drugs does not constitute lowering drug prices across the board.

Biden also supported all the lies told by Anthony Fauci, and those lies certainly did not make the U.S. healthier. How many additional deaths and illnesses have been caused, or will be caused, because Biden helped block investigations into the Wuhan lab as the source of the virus? How many people didn’t get tested for cancer and other diseases because of all the restrictions based on lies during COVID?

What about this?

Suicide is on the rise for young Americans, with no clear answers

Twenty-one-year-old Ben Salas took his own life last April. He was a promising criminology student at North Carolina State University and an aspiring Olympic athlete. He had many friends, a stable relationship and a loving family.

His death was one of 50,000 suicides registered in the US last year - the largest number ever recorded. In second place: 2022, which saw 49,449 suicides.

How many people are getting sick in America because millions of unvaccinated and untested people have come across our border with third-world diseases because of Biden’s open border policies?

How many people are unable to get health services because illegals are overwhelming the health systems throughout the country?

Insurance rates have soared for fourteen years since Obamacare was passed, even though the politicians promised that it would lower costs. Health insurance is straining the budgets of many Americans who don’t qualify for Obamacare subsidies.

We were promised that Obamacare would make America healthier, which would imply that it would make us live longer, but it hasn’t. Here are some statistics about life expectancy in America and health care costs from Google AI:

In 2009, before Obamacare, life expectancy in the U.S. was 78.5 years; 15 years later it is up a scant .1 to 78.6 years.

Here are costs of single and family coverage for several years before and during Obamacare, and how the increases slowed down during the Trump years because he took away the individual mandate and allowed more freedom of choice as to what kind of insurance people can buy:  

In 2004, single coverage averaged $69 per month and family coverage averaged $265 per month.

In 2009, before Obamacare, single coverage averaged $92 per month, up an average of less than $5 per month each year for the five years. Family coverage averaged $349 per month, or up an average $17 per month each year.

By 2016, seven years after Obamacare took effect, single coverage was up to $536 per month—this was up 482% in seven years, or $444 per month for an average of $63 per month, per year. Family coverage was up to $1,512 per month or up 333% in 7 years, or average of $166 per month, per year.

By 2020, single coverage had risen to $600 per month or up $64 per month in four years, or up an average of only 3% per year. Family coverage was up to $1,730 or $218 per month over four years, which was an increase of about 3.6% per year.

And by 2024, single coverage was up to $741 per month, or up $141 in four years, or an average of around 6% per year—double the inflation of the Trump years. Family coverage was up to $2,131 or up $401 per month in four years, or up an average of almost 6% per month, again almost double the amount of Trump’s increases. 

In the 15 years after Obamacare passed, single coverage soared 705% and family coverage was up an astonishing 512%. Meanwhile, total inflation during this period was 47%. Think how much lower health insurance would be if Obamacare didn’t exist?

And most of the media along with other Democrats continue to lie to the public that Democrats have made healthcare more affordable.

There is a great correlation between life expectancy and our use of natural resources. In 1860 the average life expectancy was around 40,and today it is close to 80—so of course Democrats are seeking to destroy the products that have doubled life expectancy.

Summary? Contrary to the “doctor” who wrote the fictional piece in the WaPo, Biden has not made health care cheaper or better. Biden’s “remarkable legacy” is how many things he has destroyed, including the purchasing power of the poor and middle classes, composed of people for whom the media and other Democrats pretend to care.

Image: Free image, Pixabay license.