Today was a momentous day in the history of our country. The Obama health care plan was signed into law. Today, 35 million Americans who do not have health care can no longer denied coverage. And I am here to tell you that I used to be one of them. Six years ago when I got divorced and was self employed, I could not get an individual plan because I had a previous existing condition. It wasn’t cancer or meth addiction or anything as dramatic as that. No. It was a simple case of heel spurs, medically known as plantar fasciitis. Three insurance companies turned me down including Blue Cross who had covered me under my ex-husband’s group plan. Ironically, they didn’t cover the orthotics I needed for treatment anyway so I never understood what the big deal was. The only insurance I could get was some bullshit catastrophic plan that didn’t cover anything anyway. No annual pap smear, no mammogram. Nothing. It wasn’t until I married Paul that I was able to get insurance. Good thing too because right after our wedding I had my gall bladder out.

I know a lot of you may not agree with me and I don’t understand the reasoning. Some say that health care should not be an entitlement. If you can’t afford  insurance, why should the government step in to help you? It’s not their problem. To that I say: Why is health care not an entitlement? Just as every citizen is entitled to a public education, every American should have the benefit of proper medical care. If that’s your logic then why not close down the libraries and public parks? Heck, let’s do away with social security. If you can’t put enough money aside for retirement too bad. Make your kids take care of you. And while we’re at it, who needs the police and fire department. Or the military? These are all government programs paid for with tax dollars and I don’t think anyone will think for a millisecond that we should do away with them. I am confident that once every American truly understands and gets used to the Obama health care plan they won’t want to do away with that either.

To hear another mom blogger’s similar experience, click here to to read Heather Armstrong of Dooce’s opinion.