The Public Option Is Not Dead

Things seem to be heating up in the health care debate as supporters of reform and the public option are finding their voices and getting more organized.  Many more people are speaking out now in favor of the public option.  Yesterday I signed a new petition and went on twitter.  I was quite encouraged when I did a search on #publicoption to find hundreds of tweets in support of it.

I personally am among the “medically ineligible” who has fallen through the cracks in this broken system and been brushed aside by the in$urance companies as being unworthy of coverage because I am not among the lucky ones who has coverage from a group policy.  Since I am neither independently wealthy nor old enough to go on Medicare, I must do whatever I can to take care of myself and that includes being politically active on this issue.  Yes I am passionate regarding the outcome since I am among the millions of Americans who has a personal stake in it.

Last week I received a phone call from a staff member of FamiliesUSA, a group that has been campaigning for health care reform for years and who had worked closely with Senator Ted Kennedy over the years. I do not mind telling my story if it can help to achieve health coverage.  I had posted some comments on their web form so they called me to get more information.  I have written a few more details regarding my own situation in my blog posts here, on health care and health insurance denial, as well as the financial problems caused by my illness in God’s Grace Is Sufficient.

Here are a few links to some of the more interesting commentaries from recent days.  Olbermann last week again discussed the polls showing broad support among the public for the public option with Marcos Malitsos of Daily Kos.

Another really outstanding piece was this tv ad of Kevin Schilling, a Greenfield, Iowa farmer addressing Senator Grassley and the public option. Of course farmers are another one of the groups who fall through the cracks of the system, since they are largely self employed and not covered by group insurance through their employer.

Here’s Robert Reich explaining the public option in very simple, straightforward language, as well as the urgency of pressing Congress to enact it.

Finally, here is Bill Moyers personally addressing President Obama in a very passionate way saying what many of us have been wishing we could say to President Obama and the Democrats.

Yes we the people need someone to champion this cause who will at least stand up and fight for what has been promised and left undone for too long, instead of just caving in to a compromise without even taking a stand.