President Barack Obama continues to hit the nail on the head as he campaigns for healthcare reform in America.
I believe that every American should have access to quality healthcare coverage. Whatever the cost, there should not be millions of Americans who remain uninsured or underinsured because of rising medical costs.
According to the Institute of Medicine of the federally funded National Academy of Sciences, the U.S. is the "only wealthy, industrialized nation that does not ensure that all citizens have coverage. It is estimated that 47 million Americans — including nearly nine million children — lack health insurance, with no signs of this trend slowing down."
I believe that elected officials should be ashamed of themselves for not approving legislation to provide universal healthcare in this nation. The reality is that there are countless Americans who continue to suffer — and many have already died — from illnesses that might have been prevented or cured if they had had healthcare coverage. For example, my wife, who has the dreaded disease of Sickle Cell, was recently denied continued healthcare coverage from Social Security based on the claim by administrators that she received a pension from her first husband who died several years ago. Now my wife suffers every day — as do millions of Americans who have no other choice but to go to emergency rooms at hospitals when they are sick, suffering, and disabled.
Last week, a member of my Sunday School class told me that, even though his job provides him with access to healthcare insurance, the plan's officials refused to pay for all of the treatments needed to provide him with maximum care.
For these and a host of other reasons, I appeal to Congressional elected officials that within this year there should be a federal government-mandated system of universal healthcare implemented in this nation to provide coverage to all Americans.
Ronald Ellerbe is a columnist for LA Beez.
Photo from www.whitehouse.gov
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