Kennedy's dream is our inspiration

If the brain tumor had not killed Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, I'm afraid the ugly debate over health care might have.

Kennedy used his powerful influence to help the least among us, but his true passion was for health care reform.

"This is the cause of my life," Kennedy wrote in an article published in Newsweek in July.

At the time, Kennedy had been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor and -- in his words -- was receiving the "best medical care that money [and a good insurance policy] can buy."

Still, he understood that many Americans neither have the money nor the good insurance policy and that the lack thereof could mean the difference between life and death.

"Every American should be able to get the same treatment that U.S. senators are entitled to," Kennedy wrote.

To make this point, Kennedy got out of his sick bed to travel to Denver, Colo., last summer to speak at the Democratic National Convention.

Unless you've gone through chemotherapy, you have no idea how difficult it must have been for this 77-year-old man to travel after enduring brain surgery, radiation and chemical infusions.

At the convention, Kennedy draped his political mantle around now President Obama with the hope that he could: "break the old gridlock and guarantee that every American . . . will have decent, quality health care as a fundamental right and not just a privilege."

It is pretty simple.

As a country, we either believe that health care is a right or we don't.

FEAR OF LOSING INSURANCE

The raucous debates over a "public option," so-called "death panels" and "taxpayer sponsored abortions" are designed to obscure the real issue:

We live in the richest and most powerful country in the world, and we can't find the will or the compassion to ensure that all Americans receive quality health care.

It is a disgrace.

For those of us who have suffered a life-threatening illness or have watched a loved one battle a disease such as cancer, the health care debate is personal.

Since being diagnosed with breast cancer, not a day goes by that I don't thank God that I have good health insurance.

Because Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois covered me, I didn't have to think twice about my treatment plan.

But like most Americans today, I still worry about what would happen should I lose my employment or should my employer go out of business.

In today's economy, I could easily become one of the 47 million Americans in this country who do not have health insurance.

Frankly, some of the arguments against health care reform that are made by ordinary people sound hard-hearted.

How did we get to the place where so many of us think that health care reform boils down to paying the medical bills of "those" people who are "shooting each other" or who are "immigrants."

Ironically, it won't be "those" people who won't get treatment when they need it.

PARENT'S WORST NIGHTMARE

Our current health care system has failed people like the ones Kennedy described in his poignant appeal for health care reform.

The senator recalled the ordeal he went through in 1973 when his 12-year-old son, Teddy, had bone cancer.

"I decided his best chance for survival was a clinical trial involving massive doses of chemotherapy," Kennedy wrote.

During that time, he met other parents whose children had the same disease. When the trial was stopped and declared a success, it meant that families had to have insurance to cover the rest of the treatment or pay for it out of their pockets.

"Our family had the necessary resources as well as excellent insurance coverage," Kennedy wrote. "But other heartbroken parents pleaded with the doctors. . . . No parent should suffer that torment."

Kennedy envisioned a health care system that covered everyone, barred insurance companies from denying coverage because of pre-existing conditions, and would let children be covered by their parents' policy until age 26.

While he was willing to compromise, to his last breath, Kennedy waged an ongoing battle for equality in health care because he believed it would make America a more just society.

Although many in Washington will eulogize Kennedy, you cannot honor this fallen giant without honoring what he stood for.