Who's right on cancer?

It's a couple of months ago now, but you probably remember what Giuliani was saying about cancer and socialized medicine:

Yes, the key point was: "I had prostate cancer, five, six years ago. My chances of surviving prostate cancer and thank God I was cured of it, in the United States, 82 percent. My chances of surviving prostate cancer in England, only 44 percent under socialized medicine."

Now if you've been paying attention you know a crucial fact about this statement: it was a lie.
But now we know something that really is true. If you don't have insurance, your odds of dying of cancer are a lot higher.

ATLANTA — Uninsured cancer patients are nearly twice as likely to die within five years as those with private coverage, according to the first national study of its kind and one that sheds light on troubling health care obstacles.

People without health insurance are less likely to get recommended cancer screening tests, the study also found, confirming earlier research. And when these patients finally do get diagnosed, their cancer is likely to have spread.


If you know that, and you believe it, and you care about how many people die of cancer, it would make sense that you would want everybody to have health care, wouldn't it?

So why are the R's holding out for some bogus plan, like Giuliani's, that won't do that?