This week, three different women’s stories have been making the rounds throughout HCFANY’s social media networks, so I thought I’d share them with the blogger world as well.

The first story comes from Baltimore, where a bride named Meredith Gould decided to put the money her wedding guests are willing gift her to good use by putting health insurance on her wedding registry.  A luxury item, no doubt. Meredith is thinking ahead to what she actually needs and trying to be proactive about her health.

The second story comes from Los Angeles, and tells about a woman named Spike Dolomite Ward who, uninsured and newly diagnosed with breast cancer, has found new appreciation for President Obama’s health reform law after she was able to get coverage under her state’s Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan.

The third story, from Myrtle Beach, is a post-mortem story written about a young woman named Devin Pate who, having been asked about her fears related to the rare cancer that was slowly taking her life, named her medical bills as main thing keeping her up at night.

Three different stories with three different outcomes, but they all point to one thing: Our nation’s broken healthcare system.  While our country’s politicians hash out the virtues of Obamacare on the national stage, and our own state policymakers duke out similar battles closer to home, everyday folks continue to grasp for straws when it comes to staying healthy, or even staying alive.  Some may get lucky, others won’t.

As we move into the coming election year, it’s important to remember that while these three women got their stories published in the paper, millions more have not.  We have a chance to get it right, to put an end to this madness by putting people before politics and doing what we need to do to fix our broken healthcare system.

Health reform is here.  Now let’s make it happen.