Several of my friends have compared Ted Kennedy to Moses, and in at least some ways the comparison holds. Both men made major mistakes in their earlier years, and then came back to hold positions of great leadership. And sadly, neither completed the journey to his promised land.
I cried the morning I heard about Kennedy's death, not because he died of cancer at age 77, but because he died before he reached his major goal of health reform. I am hoping that his death will spur Congress to get health reform through this time.
Maybe it's because you and I spend so much time working with people who are trying to navigate our health care system that we feel so strongly about it. Of course, we never know all the back story of the person without insurance who writes us. Maybe some of those people have declined insurance thinking they were too young to get sick, and now they realize they made a mistake. But most of them probably work for a company that can't afford to cover them, or their spouse has insurance but the premiums for family coverage would take more than half their income. Others may be laid off and unable to afford COBRA payments.
I know too many dead people, and too many of the dead people I know died because of the cost of treatment. Either their insurance wouldn't pay for treatments they needed, or they couldn't afford insurance. No congressional bill can fix every problem in our system, but I sure would like to see a major step forward towards that Promised Land that Sen. Kennedy didn't live to see.
Several of my friends have compared Ted Kennedy to Moses, and in at least some ways the comparison holds. Both men made major mistakes in their earlier years, and then came back to hold positions of great leadership. And sadly, neither completed the journey to his promised land.
I cried the morning I heard about Kennedy's death, not because he died of cancer at age 77, but because he died before he reached his major goal of health reform. I am hoping that his death will spur Congress to get health reform through this time.
Maybe it's because you and I spend so much time working with people who are trying to navigate our health care system that we feel so strongly about it. Of course, we never know all the back story of the person without insurance who writes us. Maybe some of those people have declined insurance thinking they were too young to get sick, and now they realize they made a mistake. But most of them probably work for a company that can't afford to cover them, or their spouse has insurance but the premiums for family coverage would take more than half their income. Others may be laid off and unable to afford COBRA payments.
I know too many dead people, and too many of the dead people I know died because of the cost of treatment. Either their insurance wouldn't pay for treatments they needed, or they couldn't afford insurance. No congressional bill can fix every problem in our system, but I sure would like to see a major step forward towards that Promised Land that Sen. Kennedy didn't live to see.