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Congress wouldn't listen to people like Tiffany Owens talk about the need for affordable health care coverage, but maybe they will listen to her 11-year-old orphaned son, Marcelas.
Owens died, her family says, because she developed pulmonary hypertension and was unable to work. When Owens lost her job, she lost her health coverage and could not afford to buy any on her own. Owens fought for passage of health care reform in her final days, and now her son is carrying on in her memory.
"I'm telling the members of Congress that the health care bill should be passed because everyone deserves health care," Marcelas said during an interview on MSNBC.
"The health care system is broken, and it caused my mother's death," Marcelas added.
Talk about wisdom coming from the mouth of babes.Marcelas is an articulate and heart-wrenching example of why we need health care reform in this country. The young boy says he saw his mother struggle with the disease. She gained a lot of water weight and was unable to walk, he said.
Owens' mother said her daughter was "strong-willed and very independent."
"She was the kind of person who didn't want to ask for help if she didn't need it. A lot of that has impacted Marcelas," she said.
While Congress argues about the dollars and cents of health care reform, people like Owens are literally dying and children like her son are watching. It is the human costs that come with leaving 46-million Americans without health care coverage that we should be concerned about. That should be the driving motivation for Congress.
Marcelas says the reaction he has received from members of Congress to his lobbying efforts has been mixed.
"Half of them encourage me, but some don't like hearing what I say," Marcelas said. "What I want is not what they want," he added.
All Marcelas and millions of families without health care want is an affordable option to get it. They want to not worry about going bankrupt and becoming homeless because of medical bills. They want to know that if they become sick and lose their job after 30 years of working and paying taxes, that their medical needs will be met.
Marcelas is only 11, but he already knows that caring for people is more important than money. It's a lesson this country has yet to learn.
Comments: (490)
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By: Willbgone on 3/12/2010 6:29AM
Unfortunately, Health Care is not a RIGHT as guaranteed by the Constitution. As such, Doctors, Nurses and most hospitals have to sacrifice their own money and get into debt themselves just to become what they are. Once in practice, they still have bills like everyone else, especially Docs who work for themselves, as they have employees salaries to pay for, property taxes, insurances, etc. The Feds do nothing to help here either. Unless the People of the United States are willing to pay more taxes and subsidize the education of Health care personnel, they shouldn't demand that these people work for ever-shrinking dollars with ever stricter rules. Effective March 1st, Medicare made a 20% cut in Physician payments. How is that supposed to work when the employees want raises, the taxes go up every year and so does their liability insurance? As an FYI, the money that Julia Roberts makes for ONE movie could pay 80 Physician's salaries for a YEAR!! Now, is it me or does that just not seem fundamentally right?
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By: Frank on 3/12/2010 8:10AM
your comment points out the inherent problems involved in socialized medicine. problems, i might mention, that are not addressed by this bill. however the bill will present another opportunity for the marxist/communist in the WH to gain control over the universities and the pay of these professionals. be scared America.
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By: TONY C. on 3/12/2010 6:29AM
IN THIS COUNTRY WITH THE REPUPLICANS ALL IT EVER IS ABOUT IS MONEY AND WHO YOU ARE THRERE WHOLE PLATFORM IS RACE BAITING AND RESEGREGATION CARING ABOUT THE OTHER MAN IS NOT PART OF THERE MAKE UP AND THE SUPPOSE TO BE SO RELIGOUS ITS A JOKE
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By: Frances on 3/12/2010 6:37AM
Your comment is a joke. The poor grammar, misspellings, and run-on sentences is horrifying.
Did you go to school?
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By: patricia on 3/12/2010 7:15AM
WHY IS IT THAT IS ALL YOU LIBERALS HAVE IS THE RACE CARD...PRETTY SAD WHEN THAT IS ALL YOU EVER HAVE AS A DEFENSE!
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By: marcia on 3/12/2010 7:55AM
Get off the race and religion bandwagon! I guarantee you, if this child was Native American, Asian, American Jew, Latin American, White or anyone who wasn't black, you would be the first one to yell about how you hate ALL these groups of people "whining" about entitlement! Perhaps you wouldn't notice race if you were born BLIND!
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By: dsherline on 3/12/2010 6:47AM
So the kid's been indoctrinated to a leftist way of thinking already. Sorry kid but everyone doesn't deserve health care. While it would certainly be nice it is not a right but a commodity. Not somethhing that's "deserved".
Contrary to what's being touted our health care system is not broken. Health care costs are the problem, not the entire system.
30 million or so without insurance. What about the 270 million or so with insurance and how many of them have no problem with it?
Our president and the legislators aren't ignoring that. They know full well what they are doing and it's much bigger and goes much deeper than just health care reform.
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By: John on 3/12/2010 7:02AM
Excuse me, when we are the richest country in the world and our birth death rate is like 17th in the world, the system is broken. You are either blind, stupid or see the world only through your own set of filters, and perhaps all three.
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By: dsherline on 3/12/2010 7:41AM
In Reply To: John on 3/12/2010 7:02AM
So then, using that rational, if a light bulb burns out in a lamp in your house you think the whole electrical system is broken and have your whole house rewired or do you just fix the problem (replace the bulb)?
If your car runs out of gas you think the whole system that's propelling the vehicle down the road is broken? Do you replace the car or do you fix the problem(refill the tank)?
The rational behind your reply seems to be seriously lacking something.
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By: Sandy on 3/12/2010 7:44AM
No, this child has not been indoctrinated to any political viewpoint. He has lost his mom. That's what he is responding to here. When you lost your mom as a child, it's not political.
Is health care a fundamental right? Is it deserved? Well, all of the wealthiest countries on this planet seem to think so and demonstrate the ability to deliver relatively appropriate care to most, if not all, of their citizens. Our debate over whether or not it's "deserved" will only serve to help diminish our place on the world stage in the years to come. The fact is, governments are charged with protecting public health. We fail to do this to our detriment--and our statistical placements in the world, falling as they are in every arena except defense, shows that our government has, to date, lacked the capacity to fulfill this charge. Let's see where we place globally in 20 years if many of our citizens continue to accept the falacy that health care is not a human right.
While many Americans who presently have health care don't find anything wrong with it that is because they are presently, well, healthy! Problems emerge only when you try to access your system. Then, as anyone knows who actually works in the industry, problems are rampant.
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