The Census Bureau’s official estimate that 48.6 million Americans lacked health insurance in 2011 means approximately 48,000 people died needlessly last year because they couldn’t get access to timely and appropriate care.

The estimated death toll is based on a peer-reviewed Harvard study published in the American Journal of Public Health in 2009, widely cited during the health reform debate, which found that for every one million persons who were uninsured there were about 1,000 related, preventable deaths.

Their fans act as if the world owes them called strikes when the pitch is close, wins when the games are close, first place when its close in the standings, and championships every year.

We are talking, of course, about the New York Yankees.

If you know a Yankee fan, or if you listen to sports radio in New York, you know this — Yankees and Yankee fans represent the whining elite.