Dawn Josephson recounts her backyard meeting with President Obama

[ProSense]

My Backyard Meeting with President Obama

by Dawn Josephson

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Who would have thought that a short one-paragraph post on MomsRising.org about my personal experience with the new healthcare reform act would lead to me meeting President Obama! But that’s exactly what happened. About a week after I posted the exciting news that my family’s new health insurance cannot exclude my son’s pre-existing condition (thanks to the new law), I received a call from the White House asking me for more information about my situation.

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Just as I begin, my son Wesley (age four), who has spent the time so far playing with another little boy in the backyard, wanders to where the adults are gathered. I assume he must have heard my voice and mention of his name and got curious as to what was going on. I see him out of the corner of my eye and announce, "This is Wesley." Just then, Wesley walks over to President Obama and gives him a high-five! He then runs back off to play with his new friend.

I tell the story of how as a self-employed entrepreneur, I have to supply my own health insurance and didn’t even have health insurance until 2006, when Wesley was born. The various policies I’ve had over the past four years always carried some sort of exclusion. We even had one plan that excluded ear infections for children because my kids had had one in the past. But tell me, what kid hasn’t had an ear infection?

In July of 2009, Wesley needed eye surgery to correct a problem called strabismus. Shortly after his surgery, the company that we were insured through dropped us, so we had to get new insurance. The new plan, which was very expensive, excluded any treatment related to Wesley’s eye. By June of 2010, we couldn’t handle the premiums anymore, so we began searching for a new plan.

The new plan we enrolled in is an individual plan and is one of the company’s newly created "affordable options." When the insurance company representative called me and said that everything went through underwriting and we were fully covered, I said, "Okay, but..."

"But what?" she asked.

"But what’s not covered?" I asked.

"Everything is covered," she replied.

Feeling that I wasn’t making myself clear, I pointedly asked her, "What about my son and his eye condition. If he needs another surgery (which most kids do need more than one surgery to fully correct the problem), is it covered?"

"Yes," she said. "Your family is fully covered."

I couldn’t believe it. She then said, "We no longer exclude pre-existing conditions in children."

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[jaxx]

1. People are realizing just how good the health care reform really is

and the more stories that get out, the more who will know.

[ClarkUSA]

2. For all the anonymous whining, it's real-life stories like this that represent the truth re: HCR.

Thanks for another example of why this President and this Congress has done more progressive good for the American people than any POTUS since FDR.

Furthermore, FDR had a much larger majority of Democrats and moderate Republicans in Congress to work with.

:kick:

[cilla4progress]

4. Sounds like an ad tag line!

"This President and this Congress has done more progressive good for the American people than any POTUS since FDR."

I like your succintness!

[ClarkUSA]

6. Ain't it the truth, though?

Thanks.

:hi:

[Kdillard]

3. That is a great story. Hope we hear more of them.

[JTFrog]

5. K&R!

[donheld]

7. Hard Kick and Recommend

[Hekate]

8. KnR