Sometime early yesterday morning in Northern California a man lay in bed sleeping next to his wife, and had a heart attack.
He died.
He was my husband’s cousin.
We knew he was in poor health, his heart was not strong and he had suffered a heart attack in the early 90s. His life was big, and he loved it. He had a personality that filled whatever room he walked into. He was loved and well respected by many.
But in the past few months, with no health insurance, this 60 year old naturalized American man, who had worked and raised a family here in the states, had to shuttle back and forth from his second wife’s home in Mexico because the costs of the tests and treatments he needed were too high here in the states without insurance. He was waiting for ObamaCare to kick in, he needed ObamaCare to kick in.
Two days ago he was alive, playing with his 3 year old grandson. Two days ago my husband’s family, his kids and grandson, my children, and his legend of friends, had this indomitable spirit in their (and my) lives.
He died yesterday morning, waiting.
Today at the White House press briefing Tommy Christopher of Mediaite asked spokesperson Jay Carney a prescient question:
“Is there a chance the president would be willing to delay Obamacare for a year if Republicans were to agree to delay heart attacks for a year?”
Tommy Christopher has suffered a heart attack, and he has already enrolled in ObamaCare a.k.a. THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT.
if embedding doesn’t work the video is here
I have gotten into this argument with Republicans especially a “facebook friend” — “why not delay ObamaCare for people for a year like businesses are getting to do? Wouldn’t that be fair?”
FAIR! FAIR?!! Why should my sister’s husband have to wait one minute more to be able to be treated for COPD? Why should my husband’s cousin have to travel from Northern California to Mexico to be able to afford tests he need(ed) to live? How much longer should my cousin, who is a nurse, wait to be able to get/afford insurance? She’s a nurse for gawd’s sake! There is something truly obscene about a nurse not being able to get health care.
This facebook friend remained quiet.
And he’s been quiet after claiming I hurt his feeling for demanding that he prove a “fact” about the President and ObamaCare that he kept posting on my wall. Well actually it wasn’t just me, other kossack friends also challenged him.
But HOW MUCH MORE TIME should people wait?
How many more have to die before they can get needed healthcare?
Tell them to wait?!
Republicans/Teapublicans won’t, because they haven’t got it in them to look them in the eye, while you are grandstanding at the WWII memorial, and taking those veterans Meals-on-Wheels away.
It’s now too late for a big man, with a big, but faulty heart.
Who else will die while waiting? Hopefully, no one will cave and Obamacare, WITH THE MANDATE, will start on time.
And for you heartless fucking morons in the GOP who are trying to get kids not to sign up … in effect having them live off their parents health care until 26 and then go it alone . . . there are several members of my high school class who died before the age of 30 from heart attacks and brain aneurysms.
Pull out a fucking actuarial table, and let them know how much they are gambling and how much they will mooch off the system if something like this happens and they do not have insurance.
Thousands, millions, are waiting for ObamaCare in January. Some more may even die just as they see the finish line.