Today is my baby sister’s 51st birthday. It is also on this date that she died unexpectedly three years ago. According to her death certificate her untimely demise on her 48th birthday was due to the complications of cardiovascular disease. My family and I know with certainty that the cause of death had more to do with access to healthcare than the bad genes that are our cross to bear.
You see, my sister was a healthcare professional—a Florence Nightingale. Like Florence she had a calling to the field of healthcare. Unlike Florence, she was not a person born of privilege and money. She knew the importance of diet and exercise to heart healthy living. Always preaching to other folks and hiding their salt shakers! Chicken and turkey. Turkey and chicken. She knew a million heart healthy ways to “spice up” a chicken breast. Blah-Blah-Blah! But as the television ads remind us several times each day—sometimes diet and exercise are not enough. Sometimes my little sister could afford her meds and sometimes she couldn’t. Even when she had insurance and could afford her meds, she would skip follow-up appointments with her doctors because she didn’t have the co-pay.
Healthcare coverage; the difference between the quality of care my baby sister received and me. RIP, Little Sister. We’re doing all we can to help President Obama ensure that healthcare reform is enacted soon. Happy Birthday!
“Sisters are different flowers from the same garden.” ~ Anon
“A sister can be seen as someone who is both ourselves and very much not ourselves - a special kind of double.” ~Toni Morrison
America’s Affordable Health Choices Act
http://edlabor.house.gov/blog/2009/07/americas-affordable-health-choices-act.shtml
You see, my sister was a healthcare professional—a Florence Nightingale. Like Florence she had a calling to the field of healthcare. Unlike Florence, she was not a person born of privilege and money. She knew the importance of diet and exercise to heart healthy living. Always preaching to other folks and hiding their salt shakers! Chicken and turkey. Turkey and chicken. She knew a million heart healthy ways to “spice up” a chicken breast. Blah-Blah-Blah! But as the television ads remind us several times each day—sometimes diet and exercise are not enough. Sometimes my little sister could afford her meds and sometimes she couldn’t. Even when she had insurance and could afford her meds, she would skip follow-up appointments with her doctors because she didn’t have the co-pay.
Healthcare coverage; the difference between the quality of care my baby sister received and me. RIP, Little Sister. We’re doing all we can to help President Obama ensure that healthcare reform is enacted soon. Happy Birthday!
“Sisters are different flowers from the same garden.” ~ Anon
“A sister can be seen as someone who is both ourselves and very much not ourselves - a special kind of double.” ~Toni Morrison
America’s Affordable Health Choices Act
http://edlabor.house.gov/blog/2009/07/americas-affordable-health-choices-act.shtml
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