For four years, Stephanie Miller, whose 37 year old sister Kelly
Hines died of colon cancer four years ago, has wanted to tell President
Obama her sister’s story. Yesterday in Ohio, the nation was moved as
Stephanie got to not only tell Obama her heartbreaking story, but she
also got a big hug from the President. And then she got the
backlash. By last night, the Right wing was in full attack mode, calling
her a plant replete with accusations of conjuring evil and issuing fake
tears over her sister’s death, claiming her sister deserved what she
got because she “chose not to get insurance.” Ms. Miller spoke last night with Alan Colmes on http://radio.foxnews.com/fox-news-talk/alan-colmes" rel="nofollow - his radio show about her emotional embrace from the President as well as the right wing attacks. Here’s the video courtesy of http://www.politicususa.com/video.foxnews.com/v/1723019584001/sister-of-cancer-victim-tearfully-hugs-obama-/" rel="nofollow - Fox Radio : Ms.
Miller believes that if Obama Care had been in place four years ago,
her sister might still be with her. Her sister was a hard working single
mom of two young boys. She couldn’t afford healthcare. Instead of using
the money for herself to go to the doctor, she made sure her boys went.
For Stephanie, the passage of ACA meant that her sister didn’t
die in vain, because no other family would have to go through what her
family went through. Had her sister’s colon cancer been caught earlier,
she would have had a much better chance of survival. Speaking on
Alan Colmes’ radio show last night, Stephanie said the President’s
reaction was to say he was sorry for her family’s loss, and then he
asked for the name of her sister, which Stephanie provided. The
President said Kelly (Stephanie’s sister) would be in his thoughts every
day as he fights for us all. Then Obama hugged Stephanie, surprising
her because she didn’t expect her sister’s story to matter so much to
the President of the United States. Ms. Miller thinks that once
people realize Obama Care isn’t the monster people think it is they will
wonder why they were scared of it. Stephanie doesn’t have health
insurance either right now, she has to work for a year before she
qualifies to get insurance. Speaking of monsters, right before
Ms. Miller was on Colmes’ show, Alan and I were treated to a frothing
conservative barrage on Twitter (I am @srjones66). Here’s a sampling,
from evil to fake tears to her sister deserved it – it’s enough to make a
patriot weep for their country: @FunraiseDesigns:
@AlanColmes she is a Plant she chose not to get insurance. You are a
Lying propaganda Socialist Pig @srjones66 To put this in perspective, this guy also tweeted: @FunraiseDesigns:
@srjones66 @AlanColmes I have God you Have OBAMA I feel sorry for you
and your False Idol OBAMA, srjones66 666 evil# and @FunraiseDesigns:
@srjones66 @AlanColmes You both Haters of the Truth, sister’s using her
sisters death for her Idol Obama, disgusting Fake tears :( and @FunraiseDesigns:
@srjones66 Oh and be careful since udon’t look up you’ll won’t see the
House fall on top, or stay out of the water LOL Here’s a few more: @RememberComeNov: How will your audience know who’s who? MT @alancolmes: on radio with me at 10:15 http://www.alancolmesradio.com" rel="nofollow - www.alancolmesradio.com… @srjones66: Sobbing Woman Thanks Obama @tonybalogna:
@AlanColmes @srjones66 Exploiting mentally ill people to make Obamacare
look better than it is. Nice morals, Dems. @AVISOinsurance: @AlanColmes @srjones66 Man, Is she about to be disappointed! Alan
Colmes brought up the right wing attacks, but Stephanie is no shrinking
violet. She pointed out that while yesterday was the four year
anniversary of her sister’s death, she knew there would be a lot of
negative reaction but it doesn’t bother her. For her, yesterday
was a once in a lifetime chance to tell the President her sister’s
story, “I didn’t think I would actually be able to talk to him (Obama). I
was fortunate enough to get close enough to touch him. And I decided it
was now or never to tell him her story and he was gracious enough to
stand there and let me tell him her story.” Is the Right wing
simply refusing to accept the fact that people in this country actually
die from lack of health insurance? They seem to believe that people can
afford insurance but choose not to purchase it (this is actually an
argument for Obama Care as it will make insurance affordable for
everyone, but we’ll let this intellectual lapse go). In Stephanie’s
sister’s case, her income was too high for Medicaid. This is a common
problem for middle-income families. They make too much to be eligible
for help, but not enough to pay the hundreds of thousands of dollars it
takes to fight a disease like cancer. Here’s the deal. Nearly 50
million people in this country don’t have access to healthcare and more
are going broke paying for it. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 23
million of those without health care are white, 15.3 million are
Hispanic, 8 million are black, 2.6 million are Asian. However, the
percentages show that 1 in 10 white people are without insurance, while 2
out of 10 black people, 3 out of 10 Hispanics and 2 out of 10 Asians
are without health insurance. Those without healthcare have shorter life
spans. Our healthcare system was broken before Obama Care. Good
people — hard working people — died for lack of access. Their children
died. We are 37th among industrialized nation for healthcare according
to the World Health Organization. France is number 1. This is not
exceptional; it’s completely unacceptable. Stephanie rightly
observed that Obama Care is going to change people’s lives and she hopes
it isn’t repealed, “This bill will positively affect millions of people
in this country. If somehow someone else gets into office and they
repeal this bill, those same people will be negatively impacted.” For
her trouble, Ms. Miller is being targeted and her loss is being cruelly
mocked. Of course, Stephanie works at a prison, so I’m thinking she
might be more immune to intimidation than they expected. They won’t get
her to back down with juvenile, cold-hearted name-calling. Americans
like Stephanie Miller have a story to tell, and tell it they will. No
frothing right wing trolls are going to tread on their Real American
Stories. This is a real American story; the story of a family who
lost a loved one, who might have been saved if only she had had access
to affordable health insurance. In a nation with 50 million uninsured,
too many can relate to this story. It’s a story that didn’t have to be,
and won’t be once the Affordable Care Act is implemented fully.
Inevitably, the woman behind this story is now being ruthlessly attacked
by anti-healthcare conservatives.
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