So, as the 2004 presidential campaign gears up, we should be hearing more about health care. There were an estimated 43.6 million people (15.2 % of the population) in the United States without health insurance in 2002. This number does not include people without insurance for only a few months, for example if they were in between jobs for several months. So, this is a minimum number, and drawing from that, we can estimate that there are upwards of 20% of people in the US without health insurance at any one time.

So, why is this important? I mean, the majority of Americans have some sort of health coverage and are able to see a doctor if they become ill. Why should any of them care about people without health insurance? Public health, and terrorism.

Think about this: a terrorist attack using biological weapons. A couple suicide-bio-weapon-bomber guys infect themselves with something like smallpox, or SARS, or bubonic plague. They wait until they are contagious and start traveling around a large metropolis, going on subways and buses or hanging out in malls. When someone with health insurance starts coming down with "flu-like symptoms" soon afterwards, he is going to go to a doctor, and the outbreak can be identified and hopefully contained. If someone without insurance comes down with the same symptoms, that person is not going to go to a doctor, at least not right away. Meanwhile, if the disease is still in the contagious stage, he will help spread the disease to others.

I don't understand why this idea hasn't gained any traction. Maybe I don't understand something about transmission of diseases, but this seems like a plausible scenario to me. Furthermore, it doesn't need to be terrorism; it could just as easily be a SARS (or any other highly infectious disease) breakout.

My $ .02.