The Healthcare IT News social media community had plenty to say when Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum opined this past January that he rejects the notion “that people die in America because of lack of health insurance.”

Healthcare IT News LinkedIn Group member Dennis Fliegelman explained that Santorum was probably referring to the fact that physicians cannot refuse to provide life-threatening treatment. “Healthcare, like education, are both required for a productive society,” he wrote.

Fellow member Larry Steller agreed with Fliegelman’s comments. “Unless you can include a physician of the ilk of a Dr. Kevorkian, I would challenge you to identify a physician who would allow anyone to die due to a lack of healthcare coverage,” he responded to the group. Steller continued by saying the federal government is not the right place to force insurance companies to end maximum limits and pre-existing conditions.

But when LinkedIn group member Earl Foutch heard Santorum’s statement, he was appalled. “It seems patently obvious to me that the lack of health care insurance and/or healthcare access would lead to death if not serious health problems,” he wrote.

The rhetoric was also heating up on Twitter. One tweeter, @CVMac was confused by the senator’s presentation – but asked Santorum himself: “Could you be any more out of touch?”

The consensus around the issue seemed to be that it’s been overanalyzed, and the media frenzy it created out of proportion to the comments themselves. “Leave it to TV and newspapers to take his words out of context,” tweeted @joeshomel71.

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