"We did not fear our future, we shaped it."
-Barack Obama, 3/21/2010
On Sunday night, Congress narrowly passed huge reforms to healthcare, finally bringing about the change that has been needed in the United States for many years. In a country of this size and prosperity, the fact that people die of preventable diseases because they lack the money and the insurance to pay for treatment is unacceptable. Many leaders in the last 100 years have recognized this and fought to bring about coverage for all Americans. This effort was especially pushed by Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA), who passed away in August fighting for this bill. Though the work is not done, this vote is an important step completed, and an important obstacle overcome.
According to the president's plan, (available here) 95% of Americans will be covered after the passage of this plan, a significant increase from the amount covered today. In addition, the healthcare provided to many will be a more affordable option. Currently, approximately 30 million Americans live without health insurance.
0 Republican representatives voted for this bill. The fate of this reform and the cultural shift will be inexplicably tied to the fate of Democrats in office, and it will go down in history as a Democratic movement.
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