Ordinary people speak out on health care reform

Liberals and Blue Dog Democrats are splintering on health care reform. Republicans and conservatives are united against it. But Clinton, Maryland resident Lillie Brown is certain. Americans need health care reform.Brown and several Greater Washington residents joined "Enough is Enough" in a weeklong campaign to get legislators to agree on a health care reform bill before Congress adjourned for August recess.

Passionate, with tears in their eyes and sweat dripping down their faces, campaign members chanted in front of the Republican National Committee Headquarters Tuesday, July 28: "GOP don't let us down," and "If you have healthcare we want healthcare."

The demonstration continued the next day outside the Democratic National Committee Headquarters, followed by a protest outside the Rayburn House Office Building on Thursday.

"I am here fighting on behalf of my family members," groused Brown who has healthcare insurance through her employers.

The demonstrators held red, white and blue signs high and honked horns heard over half a mile away. But through it all, Reverend Delman Coates, senior pastor of Mt. Ennon Baptist Church in Clinton and founder of "Enough is Enough", declared that health care reform was the most country's most pressing domestic policy.

"Healthcare reform was killed 16 years ago and we can not let it happen again," said Rev. Coates. "This issue goes beyond public finances and resources of this country, and boils down to the public will."

Reverend Coates noted that many citizens voted for Obama because of his commitment to healthcare reform during the 2008 Presidential campaign. President Obama's healthcare reform seeks to change the current system that often denies insurance claims due to pre-existing conditions and charges steep out-of-pocket fees.

In a speech on health care reform in Cleveland, Ohio, last week, President Obama emphasized that his administration is pursuing health insurance reform so that every American has access to quality, affordable health are.

"Reform isn't just about the nearly 46 million Americans without health insurance," he said. "If you have health insurance, the reform we're proposing will give you more security. It will give you the option to keep your coverage if you're happy with it."

The "Enough is Enough" Campaign for Healthcare Reform is urging Congress to pass a comprehensive healthcare reform sooner than later.

"The Senate and the House need to come together and the American people are waiting," said Julia Pollard, coordinator of the "Enough is Enough" healthcare reform campaign.

"People are now being forced to choose whether to go to the doctor and purchase medicine or buy groceries," Pollard said. "And it shouldn't be that way."

Such is the case for 43-year-old Glee Bartlett of Silver Spring. Bartlett is unemployed and in need of medical attention but cannot see a doctor because the costs are so steep.

"Times like now, when I'm coughing and wheezing, is even more reason why I support this issue," she said. "I have to take whatever I can afford over-the-counter to sustain," said Bartlett between coughs.

E. Faye Williams, national chair of the National Congress of Black Women, has a personal connection to the healthcare reform. Her father died within days of being transported from emergency room to emergency room because he had no health insurance.

"I just don't understand why the Congress continues to drag their feet when the President is saying that the time is now," Williams said. "Congress should not be going on vacation without a healthcare plan in place ready for the President's signature."

"It's a disgrace that we have so many people that are uninsured in the United States," said Bill Armbruster, 60, of Southeast D.C.

This former magazine editor is unemployed and wants Congress to act now. His health insurance ends next August and he fears that he will not be able to find a new company to start an insurance policy with due to his age.

As a result, he is planning to move to Taiwan. "In the 1970's, I taught English in Taiwan, which has 'superb' healthcare," Armbruster said. "And although I don't want to, I'm looking into going back so I can have access to their healthcare."

Williams shares Armbruster's frustration. "If it were Congressmen's mother, father, or child that needed the healthcare, they would go to any length to make sure they had affordable insurance," she said. "Why wouldn't anybody want everyone to benefit from the healthcare that only some have now?