My message to Jean Schmidt

As your constituent, I'm writing to tell you why I'm such a strong supporter of health reform.

My wife, an otherwise healthy 33 year old woman, suffered a stroke suddenly 18 months ago while we were at a Thomas the Train event in Lebanon, Ohio.  While we were fortunate enough to have health care coverage at the time to help us in our time of crisis, I can't help but be concerned about future coverage and protection.

You see she now has a "pre-existing condition."  The doctors were never able to identify what caused the stroke, and while she's made an amazing recovery we don't know what to work on to be sure we've eliminated the possibility of another stroke.

If I, just a normal voter from your district, have figured out that we can't guarantee she won't have another stroke, it shouldn't be that hard for an insurance company looking only to maximize it's profitability to identify her as a high risk to their bottom line and decline us future coverage.  Then what?

I've seen, read, and heard all of the rhetoric from the Republicans.  I'm sure somewhere in the viciousness there is probably a few valid statements of concern, but none of them have told me what your plan is for my wife to have coverage in the future.

I'm formally requesting as a registered, active voter in your district that you reconsider your stance on the pending health care vote.  Provide my family, my friends, my children, and my country with a health safety net so they don't have to face the same concerns in the future.

Please see my message to you, along with the stories and photos of other Americans from your district and across the nation, at http://my.barackobama.com/HereFor

Respectfully,
Robert Bennett