Talk Radio News Service: News, Politics, Media

By Laura Smith, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), Rep. Mark Schauer (D-Mich.) and Jim Williams, the CEO of Easter Seals, a non-profit that helps disabled youth, held a briefing today to talk about the importance of health care reform for children with pre-existing conditions.

"Every family in America is one phone call, one accident, one diagnosis away from needing what we have in our bill," Pelosi said.

A mother, Roxanne, and her daughter, Shannon, who has cerebral palsy, were also present at the meeting.

Roxanne said that Shannon has dreams and that she's been fortunate to have had Medicaid almost all of her life, and she's progressed very well with having Medicaid. Shannon she had a surgery recently and also needed therapy to fully recovery, and Medicaid will not pay for it.

"These aren't just the services she needs now, this is services she needs all her life. Cerebral palsy doesn't just go away," Roxanne said.

She said she really wanted her daughter to get the therapy she needs so she can live a very full and independent life, like her.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said the health care bill is about making sure no American is left without the health care they need. He also said the health care bill is about "whether or not the nation can say 'yes we can' today.'"

Hoyer also introduced a young woman named Jessica, who at 21 months old was in a horrible car accident with her mother. She made a recovery, but her insurance company saw the accident as a pre-existing condition.

He mentioned how she was planning on getting married this month, but when she does, she will have to find different health insurance that she can afford and that will also accept her pre-existing condition.

"She ought not have to choose between her health insurance and getting married," Hoyer said.

Jessica said the organization Easter Seals has always been there for her. She said that her insurance wouldn't pay for her Easter Seals when she turned 21, and that one of her biggest expenses is a dietary supplement that she's paying for out of her pocket.

Pelosi said, "These girls demonstrate so clearly that, in our society, we must respect people for what they can do, rather than judge them for what they can not do."