Feeling that John Kerry might actually had chance of winning in 2004, a friend said to me, “You know, with Kerry in the White House, maybe we’ll get health insurance.” I offered a good chuckle to this sentiment, and dismissed it summarily. Free health insurance was a novel concept to us, being relatively poor kids in our early 20s. Ok, this is not to say there were not (and are not know even more) Americans in a more dire situation than ourselves. But, with the Presidential election gearing up again, I can’t help but remember how affected I later felt by his assertion and how angry I grew that we had been subliminaly coached to push such odd thoughts from our minds. It was just assumed that we would not have health insurance, since we didn’t have full time jobs, and there was obviously no way we could afford it on our own. At the time, we were generally ok with this setup, but the more and more I thought about it, the more and more used I felt for caving into a system that made me feel silly for even contemplating it. Canadians laugh at me when I tell them this. As they and so many other countries know, universal–and comprehensive–health insurance is seen as a basic human right. So here’s to the next four years, one that hopefully can drum up some hope for substantive U.S. health care reform. If not that, at least hope for re-inserting into our heads the idea that affordable health insurance is not just a one line joke.
My Photos
