Column by Joe Gallenstein

Everyone in this country realizes the difficulty of the times we live in. Writing two weeks ago, I highlighted the plans of both presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain when it comes to tax policy and middle class America. However, we in this country also face a healthcare crisis on par with our larger economic woes, as the Los Angeles Times pointed to a study in 2006-07 that showed one-third of the population under 65 had gone without health insurance during part of the year. That is roughly 89 million Americans who are one illness away from being destitute, and many of these Americans are children who have no control over their situation.

I believe most everybody would agree that every child deserves the right to health insurance, just as every child deserves the right to an education. No child should be denied health care because of their parents economic woes, especially given the economic times we live in at the moment. Thirty-one United States senators, however, disagree, as does our current president, who vetoed the expansion of the State Child Health Insurance Program, which provides care for the poorest children in our society. Which of our esteemed representatives in that body failed to stand up for equal access to health care for the children of our country?

If you guessed that the so-called “Maverick,” John McCain was on this list of senators voting against expanding health care providers to kids, you would be correct. Also on that list were Kentucky’s very own Senators Mitch McConnell and Jim Bunning, according to the Washington Post. McConnell’s staff, according to Time Magazine, ‘swift-boated’ Graeme Frost in an effort to bring down the bill that attempted to ensure that the 10 million children who do not have health insurance would be covered. Unfortunately, McCain and McConnell had their way.

Perhaps I am biased by my own experience in the world of healthcare. I have dealt with asthma from a young age, and between the ages of 7 and 11 it was fairly routine for me to visit the hospital or the emergency room at least once a season. Upon entering 7th grade, I lost my health insurance as my dad was forced to leave one job, and my mother took a better-paying nursing opportunity to compensate. The result was, for a period of 6 months at the start of the school year, I lived in fear of having another asthma attack that would force me to the emergency room, or worse, to stay a week at a hospital without the ability to pay. I knew my family could not afford this, and that if I were to get sick, my family could lose our home. Fortunately, by the grace of God, I enjoyed the first healthy year I experienced in five years.

Today, I am blessed to be covered by not just my mom’s health insurance, but to have excellent care available to me from the university. Likewise, McCain, McConnell and Bunning all receive the best healthcare plan available, at tax payers’ expense. Of course, if they were to lose their health benefits, they may be able to cover it. If nothing else, they could sell one of their many spare homes or extra vehicles. The rest of us, however, do not have this luxury, especially children like Graeme Frost or the more than 60,000 children who are eligible for Kentucky Children’s Health Insurance Program but the Courier-Journal reports to not be enrolled (due to the recent short-fall in funds).

It is time we had people leading this country that cared about those struggling to get by, and not just the interests of corporate fat cats. Obama has demonstrated a support for expanding coverage for the uninsured, while McCain offers the same solution to the healthcare crisis the Republican party has offered for the economy, and that is to continue to deregulate and force people to fend for themselves. We see the same difference between Bruce Lunsford, who is an advocate for those 60,000 Kentuckians, and McConnell, who supports forcing the uninsured to fend for themselves.