{"id":8761,"date":"2012-06-28T15:32:06","date_gmt":"2012-06-28T19:32:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/?p=8761"},"modified":"2012-07-03T19:13:43","modified_gmt":"2012-07-03T23:13:43","slug":"what-really-happens-to-real-people-really-matters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/2012\/06\/28\/what-really-happens-to-real-people-really-matters\/","title":{"rendered":"What really happens to real people really matters"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

In his article on the cruel idea of \u201cHealth Care as a Privilege<\/a>,\u201d Jonathan Chait mentioned a spate of pre-court-decision stories:<\/p>\n

\u2026 showing in human terms what sort of conditions we would be perpetuating in the event that five Republican Supreme Court Justices, or a potential Republican-run government next year, partially or completely nullify the Affordable Care Act. A man will watch the tumor in his leg grow to the size of a melon<\/a>, and his wife will sew special pants to fit the growing bulge, because he has no insurance. A woman will hobble around for four years on an untreated broken ankle<\/a> she can\u2019t have repaired. People will line up in their cars and spend the night in a parking lot<\/a> queuing for a rare free health clinic.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Chait isn\u2019t listing a bunch of hypothetical situations. His links there go to the actual stories of these actual people.<\/p>\n

The real man with the tumor in his leg is Eric Richter, of Ohio. The real woman with the broken ankle is Wendy Parris, of Oregon. The real people camping out in that parking lot included Robin Layman, of Tennessee.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s Supreme Court decision upholding the Affordable Care Act was not primarily a political victory for President Barack Obama, or for the Democratic Party, or for the liberal tribe in general. It was, primarily, a victory for Eric Richter, Wendy Parris and Robin Layman and for millions of others like them.<\/p>\n

It was a victory for Daniel Menges<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It was a victory for 21-month-old Violet McManus<\/a> and her parents.<\/p>\n

It was a victory for 2-year-old Declan McNulty<\/a> and his parents.<\/p>\n

It was a victory for Shavon Walker<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It was a victory for Ben Trockman and for Caroline Long<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It was a victory for Carolyn Cunningham<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And it was a victory for Jennifer Lee<\/a>.<\/p>\n

These are all real people who will really be helped by what the ACA really does. And there are millions more like them \u2014 millions of real people who really need the help this law really provides.<\/p>\n

That matters<\/em>. I\u2019m sure it also has some political ramifications, but those are secondary or tertiary concerns here.<\/p>\n

Today is a good day and an important day because Eric, Wendy, Robin, Daniel, Violent, Declan, Shavon, Ben, Caroline, Carolyn and Jennifer are important. They<\/em> matter.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot forget the human element,\u201d Dianna Anderson writes<\/a>. \u201cWomen around the United States benefit from this plan.\u201d<\/p>\n

And she notes that she is one of them:<\/p>\n

Because of \u201cObamacare,\u201d in 2014, the gender disparity between women and men in health insurance plans will be illegal. My coverage, which is the same as my male coworkers, will cost us the same.<\/p>\n

Because of the ACA, should I lose my job, I won\u2019t be denied health care coverage because of a couple of pre-existing conditions.<\/p>\n

Because of the ACA, my friend\u2019s newborn who has a heart defect will not hit a \u201clifetime limit\u201d on her health insurance before she\u2019s even a year old.<\/p>\n

Because of the ACA, my birth control costs me much less money than it would have, easing my financial burdens.<\/p>\n

Because of the ACA, my recently developed PMDD has zero effect on my health insurance plan \u2013 I cannot be dropped for getting sick.<\/p>\n

Because of the ACA, my preventative exams will always be covered without a copay.<\/p>\n

Because of the ACA, my disabled brother will always have health insurance, even after my parents\u2019 passing.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That is what happened two years ago, and that is what was preserved today. And that matters.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In his article on the cruel idea of \u201cHealth Care as a Privilege,\u201d Jonathan Chait mentioned a spate of pre-court-decision stories: \u2026 showing in human terms what sort of conditions we would be perpetuating in the event that five Republican Supreme Court Justices, or a potential Republican-run government next year, partially or completely nullify the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":141,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8761","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-class-warfare"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat really happens to real people really matters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In his article on the cruel idea of "Health Care as a Privilege," Jonathan Chait mentioned a spate of pre-court-decision stories: \u2026 showing in human terms\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/2012\/06\/28\/what-really-happens-to-real-people-really-matters\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What really happens to real people really matters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In his article on the cruel idea of "Health Care as a Privilege," Jonathan Chait mentioned a spate of pre-court-decision stories: \u2026 showing in human terms\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/2012\/06\/28\/what-really-happens-to-real-people-really-matters\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"slacktivist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-06-28T19:32:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-07-03T23:13:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Fred Clark\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Fred Clark\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/2012\/06\/28\/what-really-happens-to-real-people-really-matters\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/2012\/06\/28\/what-really-happens-to-real-people-really-matters\/\",\"name\":\"What really happens to real people really matters\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-06-28T19:32:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-07-03T23:13:43+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/#\/schema\/person\/32666545e535b697afb93d9848dcfc47\"},\"description\":\"In his article on the cruel idea of \\\"Health Care as a Privilege,\\\" Jonathan Chait mentioned a spate of pre-court-decision stories: \u2026 showing in human terms\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/2012\/06\/28\/what-really-happens-to-real-people-really-matters\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/2012\/06\/28\/what-really-happens-to-real-people-really-matters\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/2012\/06\/28\/what-really-happens-to-real-people-really-matters\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What really happens to real people really matters\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/\",\"name\":\"slacktivist\",\"description\":\""Test everything; 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Jesus loves Fred far more than Fred loves Jesus, but he at least has the decency to recognize the unfairness of that lopsided relationship and he has long wished that he were better at maybe kind of sort of doing something more to correct that some day. A Baptist, an amateur, a Gen-Xer, a Gemini and a Mets fan, Fred lives in Southeastern Pennsylvania with his wife and two teenage daughters. 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Jesus loves Fred far more than Fred loves Jesus, but he at least has the decency to recognize the unfairness of that lopsided relationship and he has long wished that he were better at maybe kind of sort of doing something more to correct that some day. A Baptist, an amateur, a Gen-Xer, a Gemini and a Mets fan, Fred lives in Southeastern Pennsylvania with his wife and two teenage daughters. 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