Health care reform

     I don't know much about politics. I know the basics, but not as much as I should. Of course, I'm only seventeen, so the disappointment is more my own. When I start college I'll definitely be taking a politics class, even though I want my career to do nothing with politics. I feel that to be a productive member of society you need a common knowledge of politics, and how our country works. Being a democrat or a republican doesn't cut it if you don't even know what all that means. While I may not know how to explain socialism well enough that you can understand it, at least I can spell it.

As I was sitting down to watch the health care reform speech, I said with honesty, "I feel like if I got sick, our country would just let me die. It scares me because there's so many things they could deny me coverage for. Having drank alcohol, having done drugs, mental disorders, and especially self mutilation." I don't remember what my dad said in reply.

"What this plan will do is make the insurance you have work better for you. Under this plan, it will be against the law for insurance companies to deny you coverage because of a preexisting condition. As soon as I sign this bill, it will be against the law for insurance companies to drop your coverage when you get sick or water it down when you need it the most. They will no longer be able to place some arbitrary cap on the amount of coverage you can receive in a given year or in a lifetime. We will place a limit on how much you can be charged for out-of-pocket expenses, because in the United States of America, no one should go broke because they get sick. And insurance companies will be required to cover, with no extra charge, routine checkups and preventive care, like mammograms and colonoscopies because there's no reason we shouldn't be catching diseases like breast cancer and colon cancer before they get worse. That makes sense, it saves money, and it saves lives."

     Shock washed over my body, tingling me all over. If I wanted to jump up and shout in that moment, I couldn't. I was frozen. Speechless and on the verge of tears, I looked up at my dad who was standing behind the couch. He looked away from Obama then down at me and just said with the same look of disbelief, "Holy shit."

     Think now of how many fundraisers you come across for the terminally ill. Think of how many parents of children with issues like heart problems and cancer, have to leave their children to try and raise enough money to give them the care they need. Often, they don't raise enough money and their children die. This will never have to happen again. Instead of trying to raise just enough money, parents can be at their children's bedside while they get the treatment they deserve as an American.

     Don't shoot me down for getting hopeful because even if this never happens, no President has ever taken this leap to at least try. Take your negativity elsewhere, because it's not welcome here.

     I am happy that I won't have to die. I am happy that Barack Obama is our President.