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From The Huffington Post

Marcelas Owens, an 11-year-old from Seattle, headlined a press conference with Senate Democratic leadership on Thursday, telling a packed room of reporters that he wanted the president and Congress to come together and pass health insurance reform.

“I am here because of my mom,” said Owens. “My mom was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension in 2006. She missed so much work she lost her job. And when my mom lost her job, she lost her health care. And losing her health care ended up costing her her life.”

He continued, “I don’t want any other kids to go through the pain that our family has gone through. My grandma and I want Barack Obama and Congress and everybody to come together and to help get the health care bill passed.”

Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) has been telling her constituent’s story for months, most notably at the White House health care summit in February. Speaking before Owens, she recalled how she met him at a rally in Washington.

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  • http://www.blackplanet.com/blkman6ft6_inla/ blkman6ft6_inla

    did anyone here what nancy said we wont no whats in the bill until we pass it what a joke it more then likely wont have the votes.

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/CamuiMS/ CamuiMS

    It’s a shame an 11 year old child is more aware of the need for healthcare reform than most grown people, especially the ones who are supposed to be representing us in congress.

    Who gives a flip what is in the bill to the T, so long as their is a public option. The kinks can be worked out later. Bicker about the fine print later. The people who are losing or don’t have health insurance won’t be any worse off. For now it’s imperative that SOMETHING change, and right away.

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/kjw_south/ kjw_south

    To Camuims: The “kinks” to be worked out later could mean higher taxes on all of us that do have health care and many of us could be forced to participate in socialized medicine if our companies decide to dump us into the system and pay the small fine associated with doing that. I am sorry for the loss of this boy but I hardly doubt he understands or for that matter that you understand that the “kinks” have consequences too and once bills become law there is little to no revisiting the issue or to work out the “kinks” that you are easily dismissing.

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/AsileeDotCom/ AsileeDotCom

    Wow, you can tell those her kids…look at them eyebrows…

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/RobNclt/ RobNclt

    Blacks, as a race, do not know what’s in this bill. I wanted to know so I downloaded a copy of the Senate bill they are trying to pass on all of us to my IPhone. Here are some of the highlights that you probably don’t know, these aren’t kinks, this kind of stuff could cause and will cause some people who would live under the present system to DIE! That’s no lie, its true. They are talking about containing cost, how do you do that, RATION CARE, sure you might need heart surgery but you’re going to have to wait a year for it, good bye, you’re dead in less than a year and they save money. The amount everyone is paying with rise, Democrats admit that and there is no limit on what insurance companies can charge. Seniors, some of your mom and dads who are presently sick and getting help through medicare will see a serious loss in what medicare pays for. They want to cut it by $500,000,000,000. Yes, that’s 500 billion dollars! Do you seriously think they can cut that much out and pay for all the things your mom and dad and my mom gets now through the system we have. The bad thing is it goes on, taxes will have to be raised on everyone, 270,000,000 of us for the 30,000,000 who do not have insurance. If you decide you can’t afford it and the GOVERNMENT demands you get it, you pay a fine like an extra tax. The government, not your doctor or hospital will decide which tests you can get and which treatment you can or can not get. The same government who can not fix anything else will now fix your health. Now lets assume one of those people you dread getting elected gets elected, a REPUBLICAN or LIBERTARIAN and they chose their board who makes decisions. What makes you think blacks who have a low quality of life would be given expensive tests? There is a thing in it called QORY, you had better get to know what that means because it is going to control what you get and when you get it. They look at the quality of your life from this point (when yo got sick) and what it MIGHT be like later and decide whether you are worth saving….Who knows if they won’t find a reason to save whites and let blacks die who are equal in every way. To make a long story short, I read here all the time and I see most of you, YES MOST OF YOU think because Obama wants it it has to be good for you but that’s a lie. This will be the worst thing to happen to this country in your lifetime and it will only get worse as years go by. You had better learn to read and stop going by the president’s color! Yes I am black, but I can read!

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/MR_NANASTROKER/ MR_NANASTROKER

    Nice post RobNclt

    there are more defined additions 2 the Bill because they are still stirrin the pot and adding ingredients

    seems 2 me the Mother had a very poor diet and hopefully her children will not pick up the bad habit of eating the foul that “soul(slave) food” has 2 offer

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/odoggz/ odoggz

    This was a failed attempt to reach the public because the 11 year old was black, and not a white, little girl. The reason many don’t want this bill is because Obama failed to promote it as the thing AMERICA needs to do for America. Instead it’s been turned into the “thing rich, upper-middle and struggling/shrinking middle class” must do for the rest of the unfortunates. So now he’s getting push-back because people are under the impression that the ‘haves’ have to pay for the lazy, undeserving ‘not-haves’ , which in their minds are mostly blacks and latino, poor people, and some old people. NO one wants to pay for a bunch of other people who are not their responsibility, and most likely people that they hate, in the first place. They see this as another welfare/medicaid scam to reward lazy people who are unhealthy to begin with, not realizing that the great majority of people who have had public assistance are POOR WHITE PEOPLE, not poor blacks or latinos. So if they had only used a white girl, to march on Washington, it would have bee 200% more effective.

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/Bruce_88/ Bruce_88

    RobNcit I agree with you &
    Alot of people are blindingly Supporting Obama because of color &
    ____THIS IS NOT HEALTH-CARE-REFORM it’s GOVERNMENT TAKE OVER.
    *Real Reform CHANGE LAW & MAKE HEALTH AFFORDABLE or LOWER COST*
    -YOU CAN NOT $$$ SPEND YOUR WAY OUT OF A PROBLEM, when we already in debt.
    -MORE IMPORTANTLY AMERICA NEEDS JOBS

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/Sub-Negro/ Sub-Negro

    U guys make sum valid points the sad thing is that the republicans don’t have anything better on the table so either way it goes we are screwed one way or the other.

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/FodayB/ FodayB

    Honestly, nothing less than a health care bill with a public option would satisfy me. It is pathetic that the most industrialized nation in the world that does have a public option health care plan. Democrats wasted the political capital that they once had on internal fighting and politicians more concerned about saving their seats than fighting for something that was morally right thing to do. Where are the religious leaders on this issue? Aren’t they supposed to be out their fighting for the poor and downtrodden people, because that’s what it’s comes down to at the end of the day; the haves and have-nots. God help us all.

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/90alj06/ 90alj06

    were not getting a HEALTH CARE BILL plain and simple! because Obama is not a republican and the Bipartisian s**t doesnt work OBAMA Is too Nice he needs to get a set of balls and start yelling at muthaf**kas because that niceness s**t doesnt work on capital hill! Republicans goal is to keep the poor class poor! that is there agenda! nothing else is stopping that bill accept rich ass republicans because all they think about is themselves! and even if the bill passes its gonna be some watered down s**t where insurence companies put you on a f**kin payment plan and so obama’s gonna have to give up something to satisfy both sides!

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/mantis_5564/ mantis_5564

    RobNclt I commend you for speaking about about the Presidents health-care bill. You are right the language in the bill is the meat of what it will be about once it’s passed and these things should be worked on prior to the passage of any bill not after-wards. How can anybody be so sure such as, camuiMS. How can anybody be so sure any type of bill can be altered and improved upon its passage? This type of attitude is typical of a severe brain wash individual. When you read what’s in the bill any normal thinking person should be appalled. And a normal reaction should be to read whats in the bill to confirm the language and if they confirmed you read the bill accurately, they shouldn’t support the bill whatsoever. But camuiMs says she don’t even care what’s in the language! This mentality scares me to be honest with you. I hope its not to many more that thinks like that or our enslavement as so called American people will be assured. Obama is working for powerful political ruling class families, and It’s a possibility they have threatened him and his family that if doesn’t run the country the way they want him to his wife,kids and himself is in danger. In closing, if you watch his hair prior to him being given the office of the president it’s black, then watch just months after he was chosen to be president it’s almost gray, this man is under an extreme amount of stress, the question is by whom?

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/pro-driver/ pro-driver

    Thank you thank you thank you RobNclt for putting it down straight! I’m so tired of ppl thinking that this is a good thing, when it’s the worst thing that can happen! I don’t like the idea of my doctor being picked for me, and the other things in this bill. Obama is hell bent on pushing this so he can get that magnanimous pat on the back by his supporters. The majority of Americans don’t want this; what doesn’t he understand? Also, what 11 y.o would even know anything about the HR Bill 3200? Someone probably “schooled” him and put him up to this so it’ll pull at our heart strings. I wouldn’t be surprised if it were someone from the Administration, as they’re desperate to pass this come hell or high water. This should make people want to adopt healthier lifestyles so when the health care axe starts falling it won’t be on them.

  • http://newsone.com/nation/associated-press/insurance-company-targeted-hiv-patients-to-revoke-coverage/ Insurance Company Targeted HIV Patients To Revoke Coverage | News One

    [...] After Mother Dies, Eleven-Year-Old Tells Senate “Get The Health Care Bill Passed” [...]

  • http://thelightnc.com/national/toneal/insurance-company-targeted-hiv-patients-to-revoke-coverage/ Insurance Company Targeted HIV Patients To Revoke Coverage | TheLightNC

    [...] After Mother Dies, Eleven-Year-Old Tells Senate “Get The Health Care Bill Passed” [...]

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