Today I’m thinking about my dear friend L., who fought so hard for this day. And although she’s disappointed that we didn’t get to the public option (yet), her efforts helped get this historic health care bill to the finish line.
Most people look at her and see an accomplished young woman, a graduate of the Ivy League. They don’t know that she was so poor growing up, she and her mother once lived in a car.
Even most of the people who worked with her don’t know that her mother died from breast cancer – because she didn’t have health insurance.
Many’s the long hour we spent on the phone, her venting about how hard and how thankless her work was. (It’s far too easy to sit on the sidelines and criticize when you’re not the one working 12 hours a day, seven days a week.)
She did it because it was the right thing to do. But she also wanted to help keep other people from losing their mother.
We’re not all the way there yet. We all know that. But thanks to dedicated people like her, we’re a hell of a lot closer than we were.
Don’t forget poor Jim Capozzola. He had other issues that might have shortened his life, but the fact is if he had gotten to see a doctor before his bronchitis turned into pneumonia, he’d be here today. I’ve been thinking of him a lot the last couple of days.
coughs -> bronchitis -> pneumonia :: That’s why I always thought it should be an argument IN FAVOR of health care for everyone when people complained that if we had universal health care people would go to the doctor for a cough. Hell, yes — if we had universal healthcare then people COULD go to the doctor for a cough!
Some folks used to say that “close only counts when you pitch horsehoes”, but with your health on the line, “close” can be the difference between life and death. This country is indeed closer to a healthier America than ever before and I applaud your friend “L” for her efforts for wanting to help others.
I’m reminded of MLK’s last speech when he said, “I’ve been to the mountaintop and seen the Promise(d) Land. I may not get there with you, but I know that one day we’ll make to the Promised Land”. We are now closer than ever, as a nation, to healthcare for all. The door has been finally been nudged open……….!
……………and if you’ve ever had an insurance company play the deciding role in whether or not you get medical treatment, you’ll understand how BIG HCR really is.
I hate to rain on your parade, but this is not a health care bill. You will have to pay a premium to an insurance company that may partially cover some bills beyond the deductible and co-pays. This is Romneycare. In Massachusetts, people with insurance still can’t afford a doctor’s visit; they spent the money on the premium.
The purpose of this bill is to bail out the insurance companies and hospitals. It’s not to provide health care.
I said it was a shitty bill, didn’t I? Now the fight is to fix it.