A Republican congressman is getting laughed off the internet for correlating COVID-19 deaths to being on Medicare.
On Wednesday, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) tweeted, “Over 70% of Americans who died with COVID, died on Medicare, and some people want #MedicareForAll?”
Massie is apparently suggesting that those people might’ve survived if they weren’t on Medicare.
Medicare is government-provided health insurance for people aged 65 and older.
PBS reports that 75% of people who died from COVID were 65 or older. Elderly people are more likely to have comorbidities associated with increased risk of dying from the virus. As we age, the immune system also weakens, making it more difficult for our bodies to fight infection.
Clearly, none of this has anything to do with Medicare.
Nevertheless, Massie attempted to use the COVID death rate among the elderly to undermine support for socialized medicine or single-payer healthcare.
It didn’t go well. People wasted no time dragging him in the comments.
For some, it harkened back to his recent tweet incorrectly attributing a quote by a neo-Nazi to the French philosopher Voltaire.
Many demonstrated the fallacy behind Massie’s point by making similar arguments that confuse correlation with causation.
“People who die of heart attacks tend to have eaten meals within 24 hours of death,” @EdgeOfSports replied. “AND WE WANT FOOD FOR ALL?!?!?!?!?”
“And, get this, 100% have breathed air at some point in their lifetime too. What should be done about that?” added @Weinsteinlaw.
There were many memes in the replies.
Several wondered how Massie managed to graduate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
There were also some questions about his qualifications to be an elected official as well.
Popular consensus was that Massie’s tweet just didn’t make sense.
“So they had health insurance and their families won’t be left with crushing hospital debt after their death?” @golfgate tweeted. “Not sure this is the flex you think it is.”
“I don’t think Medicare is a co-morbidity,” added @Dreamweasel.
