Is Poverty a Death Sentence in the US?

According to Senator Bernie Sanders, there is no question that "thousands more Americans will die earlier than they should...that they are being sentenced to death without having committed any crime other than being poor". On the other hand, Rand Paul, in so many words, says the poor are getting richer.

Rand Paul is an idiot. Census data recently released show that while the poverty rate increased, median household income declined, and the percentage without health insurance coverage was not statistically different from the previous year.

Garrett Adams, a medical doctor in the southeastern U.S., backed up Senator Sanders when he said,  "financial constraints are preventing people from getting the life-saving health treatments they need." He went on to say, "there is a cycle in which poverty can be a death sentence and illness can be a poverty sentence"