Historical Day

Mama and her healthy, happy kiddos

On a historical day for this country, when I have so much to say, it's ironic that I have laryngitis and can't talk above a whisper. Hoping I recover in time for Butler's tip-0ff on Thursday. However, I thought I'd write to document my thoughts for my daughters.

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Today, President Obama signed the health care bill into law, giving all Americans the right to health care coverage. It comes at a high cost to the country and many, many Americans disagree with it. When you were born early and your delivery/NICU bills rose above $100,000, your dad and I praised God that we had a good jobs and good insurance. We toasted to healthy, affordable, babies.

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I'm hoping you never meet, like I have, a mother who delivered her twins early with severe medical complications and long-term health issues, who has since lost her job, her marriage and her home, trying to pay the medical bills to keep her kids alive.

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I'm hoping you never sit across from a college student, like I have, dropping out of school, because they were diagnosed with a medical condition and treatment bills will have to replace their tuition bills.

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I'm hoping, you never chat, like I have, with a pregnant woman who has foregone prenatal check-ups because the free clinic in town has no time in their schedule to see her and she can't afford to go to the doctor.

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I'm hoping, that sometime down the road, you'll be sitting with friends in a coffee house somewhere, talking about how you can't believe that health insurance was once NOT a right in this country. I'm also hoping that you never have to worry about insurmountable medical bills but I'm taking comfort in knowing that if you do, you won't go bankrupt. I know it won't be a perfect system, no government system is, but it's PROGRESS and for that, I can be thankful.