Change Comes to Those Who Don't Give Up

Americans have a right to expect the health care crisis to be solved by leaders in Congress.

Learn more by visiting: EricsLaw.com

(LOS ANGELES) - In light of the recent election of a Republican to fill Senator Ted Kennedy's seat, the challenge of passing a reform bill to overhaul America's health care system might appear to have become harder. But to those of us who view universal access to affordable health care as our most urgent domestic problem, it will not change our resolve.

According to the World Health Organization, the US ranks a dismal 37th in quality of health care, far below other large nations. In fact, we drop even lower when it comes to "fairness" and "health level," where our tolerance of discrimination against those with pre-existing conditions stands out as an embarrassing anomaly compared to other countries.

The Status Quo Is Not Good Enough.

On July 4, 2009, my brother Eric passed away after being denied private insurance for five years (read his story at EricsLaw.com). It has broken my heart and my mother's heart and I'm sad to report he is not alone. An estimated 44,000 people die each year in the U.S. because insurance is unavailable or inadequate to provide treatment needed. If you break it down, that's an estimated 122 people who die every day because they cannot see a doctor. And this is okay? Why do we continue to preserve a broken system that continues to fail the very citizens who make up the fabric of our nation?

And it doesn't stop there. Thousands of Americans are bankrupted by medical bills which are soaring out of control. It happened to my family, and it can happen to yours. Pay attention, the reality is that nearly every other industrialized nation has a better health care system, according to the WHO, than we do. Our health care costs are far higher than other nations, and yet our government pays a far smaller share of the nation's total expenditure on health care. I have been spending some time in France (which ranks #1 in health care according to the WHO) and have spoken with numerous people who tell me this would never happen in their country.

The bottom line is -- America's health care crisis is not a Democratic issue, nor a Republican issue. It is an American issue. And regardless of how the seats are filled in the House or Senate, all Americans have a right to expect this issue to be solved by their elected leaders.

Naïve as I know it sounds, health care reform should be about health care reform, period. More specifically, it should be about human lives. Not about 2012, not about 2010, and not about political score keeping.

What Choosing to Pass Health Care Reform Will Mean -- to Politicians and to the People.

For politicians, namely the House Democrats needed to propel health care reform through this latest obstacle, the temptation to simply quit is obvious. But the benefits of doing so will be temporary. To have worked on - and, most likely, voted for - some draft of health care reform over the past year, only to have NOTHING passed will surely be used against Democrats across the board. And their re-election hopes would probably be as dim as those of the last Democratic incumbents who failed on health care in 1994.

But should Democrats stand firmly (and, finally, united) behind an effort to get the Senate bill passed, those up for re-election this fall will immediately start seeing benefits delivered to constituents from what will be recognized as the most significant legislative achievement in decades. Things like an end to discrimination against those with pre-existing conditions, fewer insurance policy rescissions, the shrinking of the Medicare "donut hole" -- these are all benefits that are REAL and would start IMMEDIATELY.

While many deliverables in the bill would have to wait, make no mistake that passing health care reform would begin improving people's lives on day one. And doing so would at least ensure a majority of House Dems a fighting chance at re-election they may otherwise not have, not to mention a lasting achievement that no one will ever be able to take away.

What Side of History Will Your Elected Official Be On?

No one ever said legislation was easy - especially if it creates fundamental change. Americans have a right to expect the health care crisis to be solved by leaders in Congress. But we must earn that right daily by demanding it. Loudly. Frequently. And persistently.

Since my brother died in July, I've been challenging our leaders in Washington, on both sides of the aisle, to be part of finding the solution rather than exacerbating the problem. Not next year, not in 20 years. Now.

Call your representatives in Congress at 202-224-3121 and demand health care reform now. You can also visit EricsLaw.com sign our petition and share your own health care stories.

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TV journalist and health-care-reform advocate Veronica De La Cruz is fighting for universal health care for all Americans. She’s fighting in memory of her late brother Eric (EricsLaw.com) who died because he had a pre-existing heart condition and couldn’t get health insurance.

Veronica believes that Universal health care is a human right that is taken for granted in every other industrialized nation except the United States. Here, big profits and greed have created a system that leaves 46 million people uninsured and excluded from access to health care. Our window of opportunity to change all of that is NOW. Our mission is to give a voice to all of the Erics out there, today and in the future. And our goal is to demand that Congress pass a strong health care reform bill this year that includes a public option, and to end discrimination based on preexisting conditions.