Thursday 10 September 2009

"I am not the first President to take up this cause, but I am determined to be the last."

Tonight, President Obama addressed a joint session of Congress, urging the importance of comprehensive health insurance reform.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/live/

He concluded his remarks by reminding us that, "We did not come here to fear the future, we came to shape it."

Tomorrow, it is time for us to start doing our part.

We need to fix our healthcare system because it is a disgrace to let 46 million Americans live in fear that if they get sick, they can't afford to be treated. We need to fix this broken system because it's unforgivable that more than 60% of personal bankrupcies in the US arise from a medical emergency - and that many of these are from people who did have insurance. We need to fix our crazy system because with lifetime caps on payouts it's possible for a 10 year old child with Leukemia to use up her lifetime quota of insurance claimes before she even enters her teens.

We need to fix our system... because we can. Because it's bizarre to pretend that America has no choice but to be the most expensive health care market in the world at the sime time we are falling behind on life expectancy, infant mortality and rates of chronic diseases.

We have to fix our health care system because, frankly, it's downright unpatriotic to deprive Americans of the benefits enjoyed by citizens all over the world as a basic right.

Tomorrow morning, I want you to pick up the phone and call your Member of Congress and both of your Senators. I want you to tell them that you are a constituent, that you vote, that you care about this issue, and tell them why.

If your legislator is on the fence, ask them to clarify their position. But do it politely.

If your legislator has expressed opposition to reform, ask them politely to clarify how they propose to solve the problem of massively rising uninsured (especially as unemployment is exaserbating this problem) and unsustainbly high costs.

If your legislator is a supporter of health care reform, thank them warmly and let them know you'll remember their good work on this issue the next time you come to vote.

2 comments:

Unknown said...
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Unknown said...

Win or lose this battle--and believe me, I want to win it--I do not believe that Obama will be the last President to take up the cause of healthcare reform.

Whatever we get will be something that will have to be improved upon in future years by future Democratic politicians. We have to understand that if we don't get everything we want this time, then we should not be afraid to continue to demand further reform. We will be in a better situation if we have a universal, yet flawed, healthcare system in place to amend than if we just continue with the status quo.