You’ve heard the statistics... 47 million people without health insurance. 14,000 people who lose health care every day.
You’ve heard the accusations and recriminations... death panels, socialized medicine, government takeover, insurance company enrichment, and on and on...
And through all of the noise and chatter, all of the anger and fear, all of the threats and counter threats, the essential element is being pushed aside. Caring. Have we forgotten how to care for one another? Have we forgotten how important this is?
Despite what you may see in the media, or read in the blogs... this is not about a political food fight, it's not a WWF wrestling match, or a baseball game where rooting for your team is the reason to come to the stadium. This is people’s lives. This is raw pain. This is hopelessness and death. This about our neighbors.
I can tell you from first hand experience what if feels like when the doctor looks you in the eye and tells you, your child has cancer, and your second thought is, Oh God, how can I afford to keep him alive? It is a horrible, hopeless feeling. It sucks all of the sun out of the room and all of the warmth out of your blood. And standing there, above the bed, looking down on a child in a near coma with tubes and monitors sprouting around his bedside, heart clenched with the fear that you may lose this child who has not yet even begun to live, you just want help, some help, any help. You would not turn away even a little help because it’s not a "public option". Maybe you would prefer a life raft, but when you’re drowning, a small plank is a miracle if it helps keep you afloat for a bit.
As a former Social Security judge who has read hundreds and hundreds of medical files, and listened for years to the day-to-day horrors that is the reality for far too many of our neighbors, I can tell you that all of the rhetoric left and right, is silly. This isn’t about politics, it’s about pain!
It’s about the pain of the 60 something homeless veteran who is living in a old tent in the woods because his untreated PTSD is so bad that he can’t stand to be around anyone, and can’t get the medications he needs to lessen his symptoms.
It’s about the old woman with diabetes who is losing her feet because she can’t afford a diabetic diet and the insulin she needs to keep her blood sugars under control.
It’s about the Young woman with Chron’s Disease who is literally wasting away for lack of medical treatment because she only goes to the ER when absolutely necessary.
It is about our neighbors, our parents, our children. Those who are suffering. Those who are dying. Those who need help. Not perfect help, just more help.
As we argue and fuss and fight over death panels and public options, we have drifted far from the core of the issue. This isn’t about politics, it’s about pain. We don’t need a "bi-partisan" reform, we need a "non-partisan" one. One, which understands that disease, isn’t red or blue - it’s opportunistic. Disease doesn’t care who you voted for, or even if you voted. It doesn’t care whether you have public or private insurance, or none at all. It doesn’t care if you plan end of life, beginning of life, or don’t know how to plan. It takes on all comers. And those without resources, those who can’t mount a defense, it punishes, it pains, and it takes.
If we care about our neighbors, then we will find a way to help them. We will sit together as rational adults and find a way to resolve our differences... and stop talking about what we can’t or won’t support. We will understand that even if we start small, and help a little, that is better than no help at all. We will stop worrying about what we "might" lose and start worrying about how do we ease their pain, keep them alive, make their lives livable.
If we care... we will come together, and recognize that our system has not provided what is needed and understand that we can and must do better. We will stop worrying about political advantage, personal advantage and fiscal advantage. This fight is not about the president, not about the senators or representatives. It’s not even about the teabaggers or protesters, left or right. It’s about our children, our neighbors, being able to get the treatment they need to survive, to lessen their pain, to heal their bodies. It’s about our willingness to take a little less or pay a little more, so that those with nothing can have just a little.
It’s about our ability to overcome our differences to make a difference.