Last week was my 23rd birthday. To celebrate, I ate some delicious Ethiopian food, school some friends at cribbage, and perfected my slam dunk technique. I only get one Michael Jordan year, after all, and I want to make it count.
I also stopped by the pharmacy to pick up a generic prescription for migraines.
And I felt lucky. I have phenomenal health insurance coverage… through my parents. When I graduated from college, I didn’t have to worry about not being covered. I didn’t have to stock up on medication, I didn’t have to wrap myself in bubble wrap, and I could still see the dentist without emptying my savings account. (Still meaning to make that dentist appointment…)
All of this is thanks to President Obama’s health care law. Under a different president, I would have lost coverage under my parents’ health insurance plan when I turned 21. Yesterday the Department of Health and Human Services released that 2.5 million young Americans now have coverage under this law – otherwise we would have been uninsured.
Everyone deserves to know that they can see a health professional when they need to and not be pressured to make tough financial choices for the sake of their well-being. Obama’s new law brings us one important step closer to closing the insurance gap. Now, let’s get to work for the almost 50 million other uninsured Americans.
Joey Dobson
MPIRG Campus Organizer
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