The recently passed health care reform bill brought a number of heavy hitters to East Boston last Friday to tout the bill in front of the East Boston Neighborhood Health Center.
It was an afternoon of great theater for Senator John Kerry, Representative Ed Markey and our own Congressman Mike Capuano – all of whom went to lengths to let the people know that health care reform was needed – which it is – that health care reform will give aid to those in need of it – which it does – and that it will not bankrupt the nation – which it won’t.
A large crowd of onlookers gathered in the parking lot across the street from the entrance to the EBNHC in the cold and overcast to listen to these leaders.
It was good stuff, as they say.
If you are a Democrat, it was an empowering and prideful moment.
If you are a Republican, you probably stayed away.
What came out of this press conference is that EBNHC is a quintessential health care center – unique, heavily visited and used everyday – and one of the pillars of this nation’s health care delivery systems.
East Boston residents who have experienced what the EBNHC has to offer should be pleased to know that with the new health care reform bill now a law, what it offers will only increase and that those previously left out in the cold without health insurance will be brought into the fold.
For us, the main things that matter most, which Senator Kerry described so well, is that an insurance company will deny no one with a pre-existing condition coverage.
In addition, no one will any longer lose their homes and their pensions and bank accounts, all sucked dry by greedy health insurance companies.
The press conference was a bit of theater mixed with reality.
It remains to be seen just how greatly this new health care reform bill will affect the nation.
Suffice to say, the nation will remain standing and strong – and the nation’s people will all be insured.