Welcome to Friday, February 28th, belts and suspenders...

"It's going to disappear. One day it's like a miracle, it will disappear."

So proclaimed President Donald Trump about the coronavirus on Thursday. He continued:

"From our shores, you know, it could get worse before it gets better. Could maybe go away. We'll see what happens. Nobody really knows."

COVID-19 has killed more than 2,850 people and infected over 83,000 in around 50 countries and territories. Concerns over the virus have caused stocks to nosedive, with the S&P 500 plunging to its worst loss in almost nine years on Thursday.

Around the same time Trump made his remarks, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced that 33 people in his state tested positive for the disease, and health officials are monitoring another 8,400 who recently returned from "points of concern."

“We are currently in deep partnership with the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] on one overriding protocol that drives our principal focus right now, and that’s testing,” Newsom said, adding that expanded testing is “our top priority, not just in the state of California but, I imagine, across the United States.”

And you? Do you share Trump's optimism or Newsom's trepidation?

Are you concerned about the coronavirus?

On the Radar

Health Insurance

The debate over the government’s role in providing health insurance coverage is playing a pivotal role in the 2020 elections, as Democrats grapple with whether to make “Medicare for All” a key plank in their platform. It raises an important question: Where do Americans get their health insurance?

In 2018, 91.5% of Americans were covered by health insurance from a private insurer or a public program according to Census Bureau data.

A total of 218 million Americans ― about 67.3% of the population ― got their health insurance from private insurers.

A majority of Americans, 55.1%, got that private insurance through their employer.

The proportion of Americans with private health insurance was significantly more than the 17.9% who got insurance through Medicaid and the 17.8% who were covered by Medicare. How significant? Check out this chart from USAFacts:

PIC-O

Check out all the charts from our friends at USAFacts here, then tell your reps:

How do you feel about your health insurance?

What You're Saying

Here's how you're answering Should Tobacco Taxes Be Increased & Flavored Vaping Products Banned?

UGC2

UGC3

And, in the End...

As we head into March Madness...

On this date in 1940, W2XBS broadcast the first televised college basketball game: a double-header from Madison Square Garden between Fordham and the University of Pittsburgh.

PIC-END

Just writing about the above makes me want to celebrate National Public Sleeping Day,

—Josh Herman

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