There were tears of joy shed tonight at Paradux Hill, as Kitsap River and I watched history being made. And as we watched and cried together, all we could say was, "Never again."
Never again will Americans have to keep toiling away at a hated job for fear of losing their health insurance.
Never again will Americans live in fear of losing their insurance because some faceless bureaucrat will get a bonus for rescinding it.
Never again will Americans be told that their lives are worth only so much health care, because their insurance has a lifetime cap.
Never again will someone who loses their job for any reason, or no reason at all have to lose their sight, their limbs, their vital organs, or their very lives because they can't afford to see a doctor for basic preventative care and access to prescription medications.
No, this bill law isn't perfect; no piece of legislation ever is. But it's a start, as important a start as Medicare, Social Security, the Voting Rights Act, and so much more landmark legislation. It's a start toward genuine health care reform, not just health insurance reform; toward recognizing that health isn't a privilege for the wealthy few but a basic human right, that the Founders' promise of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is empty without guaranteed access to health care.
And all the gods and goddesses be willing, it's the first step toward genuine single-payer access to medical care for everyone; no questions asked, no pre-existing conditions, no loopholes or catches or impossible hurdles for not having followed every jot and tittle of whatever obscure regulations the bureaucrats thought of today.
It's also an end: an end to rescission, to murder by spreadsheet, to robbing senior citizens through the prescription drug doughnut hole. It's an end to kitchen table "death panel" discussions of how long can a family keep paying for co-pays as well as the mortgage, for medicine as well as food, for one more operation or procedure or treatment as well as the children's college, for having to decide between life or hospice .
It's an end to the very real death panels that every tentacle of Big Insurance and Big Pharma want you to believe don't exist.
And again, the gods be gracious, it's an end to my beloved Kitsap River having to ask herself, "How much longer can I afford to live?"