So in 72 hours, the House will vote on what Speaker Pelosi says is "the most important bill most of us will ever pass".
Our choice is clear. We can do nothing and accept the inevitable result -- more uninsured Americans and spiraling costs. Or we can seize this opportunity to shape our nation's future and begin walking the path of greater justice and more economic stability. It takes courage to act, in the face of uncertainty and risk, but the stakes could not be higher.
History has not been kind to the Democrats who failed to get this through in 1994, not just because they suffered political consequences, but because they left us with a broken health insurance system that is now even harder to fix.
Our elected leaders in Congress must decide, as Change to Win said earlier today, "on which side of history will they stand." We have the chance to stand on the right side of history.
Two items released today, the CBO score for the amendments to the Senate Bill, and a new video by Organizing for America, reveal in stark terms the two alternative futures we face.
According to the CBO, if we pass reform, 32 million more Americans will have health insurance. That means 95% of Americans will be covered. It is impossible to overstate how important that is. Having health insurance can literally be the difference between life and death. The story of 11-year-old Marcelas Owens is heartbreaking - and not unique:
"I am here because of my mom," said Owens. "My mom was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension in 2006. She missed so much work she lost her job. And when my mom lost her job, she lost her health care. And losing her health care ended up costing her her life."
He continued, "I don't want any other kids to go through the pain that our family has gone through. My grandma and I want Barack Obama and Congress and everybody to come together and to help get the health care bill passed."
One estimate suggests reform could save 150,000 lives. The fact that this legislation provides dramatically greater access to health care, especially compared with what is likely to happen under the status quo, is the most important reason to pass it. It's a matter of justice - and basic human decency.
If we pass reform, Americans will save money on healthcare costs.
The CBO says premiums will go down for the vast majority of Americans, and that the same insurance policy will cost less under reform.
This is not true just for individuals. According to the CBO, if we pass reform, we will help our nation's long term financial stability. We will reduce the deficit by over $1.3 trillion dollars in the next two decades. A long list of economists and health policy experts has consistently backed reform.
If we pass reform, insurance will be cheaper and better. For tens of millions of Americans now forced to buy overpriced insurance full of loopholes on the individual market, they will have access to group rates and tough new regulations on the exchange. If you are or get sick, you buy insurance at the same price as someone who is healthy, you can't be dropped, and your out of pocket costs are capped. Under a similar system in Massachusetts, premiums for individuals buying on their own dropped 40%. New regulations, the exchange, and the system of community rating mean that the kind of massive premium hikes we see now are likely to become a thing of the past.
And if we don't pass reform? We have a lot of great reports that tell us why the status quo is unacceptable, but this new Organizing for America video sums it up pretty powerfully. Here's the costs of inaction - more uninsured Americans, rising premiums and an untenable future:
If we let this opportunity pass, we have the lessons of 1994 staring us starkly in the face.
The Nation knows a thing or two about history - and progressive change. Here's what the editors say about this choice:
It represents a milestone in a struggle for reform that goes back not only to the Clinton era but to President Truman's declaration that healthcare is a basic right of all Americans. As one Democratic strategist pointed out, under Clinton, "when healthcare died, every progressive instinct died along with it." If this bill fails, Obama will probably be forced to abandon the issue for the duration of his presidency, as will most mainstream Democrats.
And that's what Robert Reich, who had a front-row seat to 1994, tells us as well - the failure to pass healthcare had a devastating impact on Clinton's legislative agenda and on the Democrats' electoral fortunes. That's why the GOP is fighting so hard now, and why we must make this vote Waterloo for conservative governing philosophy.
And yet, for some individual members of Congress facing this vote, it will take a lot of courage to step up and vote yes. They get phone calls every day from angry screaming voters telling them to say no. They are worried how it will play in their districts. But sometimes, history demands that we do the right thing, even if it is hard. Even if it means taking a risk. Marjorie Margolies, who famously lost her Congressional seat after casting the deciding vote for Clinton's 1993 budget, knows a thing or two about tough votes. And she tells the Democrats to Vote Your Conscience on healthcare:
I am your worst-case scenario. And I'd do it all again. . . . Simply put, you could be Margolies-Mezvinskied whether you vote with or against President Obama. You will be assailed no matter how you vote this week. And this job isn't supposed to be easy. So cast the vote that you won't regret in 18 years.
History calls. Rarely do we face choices like these. But we have to make them - yes or no, which side are you on? Earlier this week, I posted a list of 38 reasons to pass health reform. But the best one is the simplest - history tells us it is the right thing to do.
History is calling - you should be too.
Email or call your Representative TODAY, the House is voting tn 72 hours.
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I am a volunteer with Organizing for America in California, but when I write here I speak for myself and not for the organization in any way. My diaries, and all the words in them, are my own.