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A Lifelong Champion of Health Reform

Posted by: Erin Kelly on Aug 31, 2009

Ted Kennedy was not simply a champion of health care reform, he was THE champion of health care reform. He worked tirelessly to ensure that, one day, every American can get quality, affordable health care.

Unfortunately, he passed away this week without witnessing what he called "the cause of his life" come to fruition.

 

For over four decades, Senator Kennedy has been advocating on behalf of those who are often overlooked by the system: the uninsured and the underinsured. We must pick up that torch in his absence and pass health reform for the millions of Americans who have been waiting far too long for access to affordable, quality health care.

In a Newsweek article from just last month, Kennedy wrote,

For four decades I have carried this cause-from the floor of the United States Senate to every part of this country. It has never been merely a question of policy; it goes to the heart of my belief in a just society. Now the issue has more meaning for me-and more urgency-than ever before.

Whether he encountered victories or setbacks throughout his career, he never lost sight of the big picture: fighting for access to health care for every American, regardless of income, health status, or age. As Kaiser Health News writes in their timeline:

1966: After a trip to the Columbia Point Health Center in Boston, which provided health care to low-income residents, the first-term senator introduces and helps pass legislation that adds $51 million to the Economic Opportunity Act for a national system of community health centers.

Five years later he became the chairman of the Senate Health subcommittee and co-sponsored a bill calling for a significant increase in funding for cancer research. In the late 70s, he first introduced his plan to provide universal coverage for all Americans.

1986: As part of what Kennedy calls "a fairly small step" to extend coverage to the country's uninsured, he introduces legislation requiring employers to allow employees and others who lose group health coverage to purchase their employer-based insurance at their own expense for a fixed time period. It passes as part of the 1985 budget reconciliation bill. On April 7, President Ronald Reagan signs the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act or COBRA, which was adopted as the name for Kennedy's program.

Over the past 15 years he has been more active than ever. Kennedy has arguably helped to pass more pieces of meaningful legislation than any other senator of our lifetime. Among a long list of pieces of legislation he has helped pass to better the lives of Americans, he has:

• Driven the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

• Co-sponsored the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) that protects workers and their families who change jobs or lose employer-based health insurance from being locked out of health coverage or forced to wait for coverage due to pre-existing medical conditions.

• Helped create and pass State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which provides money to the states to pay for health coverage for children who do not qualify for Medicaid but whose families cannot afford private insurance.

While this small percentage of accomplishments listed here will never do justice to all of Senator Kennedy's hard work and compassion, it's important to underscore what we can achieve if we stick together and continue the fight. Let's honor his memory: Let's pass health reform this year.