Health Reform Activism: Who is Missing from the Conversation?

They were intrigued by the question.
Where are the voices of the 43 million uninsured in this struggle for health care reform?
A group of 50 gathered in New Haven, CT last evening to talk and hear about women's reproductive health and the state of the reform bills facing congress. As the evening’s speaker I decided to pose the question of what is missing from our movement.

It has always been my position that the affected provide one of the best perspectives on the issue and that perspective becomes an integral part of the solution.
Last month as I made application for Part B of Medicare I realized if I did not get coverage by January 1 2010 I would be uninsured and the agony I felt was profound. It made me imagine what it is like to be uninsured in a country with the most expensive health care in the world, to be uninsured in a land where access to care is not a human right. I realized that if I got ill I would get treatment that I could not afford to pay for.

The folks in New Haven got it right away and during the speakout many came out of the closet and announced that they are among the silent 43 million. One woman stated that  her job was eliminated two years ago and she has been living on savings and paying over $400 a month for COBRA which ends this month. Another woman who worked for the state was unable to pay the $900 a month COBRA for the insurance that CT legislators have. Others talked about getting screenings at health expos and others shared their fear of getting diagnosis and unable to get followup care.

We learned that the affected indeed do indeed have resources. One woman who ran a breast and cervical cancer program for the New Haven Planned Parenthood, the program's sponsor, has a database of over 900 women who are uninsured and explored the possibility of organizing them into action. A Latina spoke about a large number of documented and undocumented people who could be possibly mobilized.

The evening ended with a call to action by asking each person to add a new contact in their cell phone: the White House comment line (202) 456-1111.  Call today and tell President Obama we want health care reform and not to sacrifice abortion coverage to pass it.

I can't imagine that a group of white people, no matter how alturistic, could have led the civil rights movement. Our closing challenge is to recognize the power to be gained by organizing the uninsured.