A child with a pre-existing health condition is like a "burned down" house that shouldn't be insured?! [1]  Opponents of health care reform are ramping up the rhetoric and working hard to roll back important new health care protections--like ending pre-existing condition exclusions.  For example, former Governor Mike Huckabee compared a person with pre-existing health conditions to a burned down house:

"It sounds so good, and it's such a warm message to say we're not gonna deny anyone from a pre-existing condition.  Look, I think that sounds terrific, but I want to ask you something from a common sense perspective. Suppose we applied that principle [to] our property insurance. And you can call your insurance agent and say, 'I'd like to buy some insurance for my house.'  He'd say, 'Tell me about your house.' 'Well sir, it burned down yesterday, but I'd like to insure it today.' And he'll say 'I'm sorry, but we can't insure it after it's already burned.'  Well, no pre-existing conditions." [2]

What?!?

We're talking about people here, not burned down houses!

Colorado MomsRising member Tracy can tell you that her seven-year-old son, Klaus, who is battling cancer is not a burned down house.  And Florida MomsRising member Dawn can tell you that her four-year-old son, Wesley, who finally obtained coverage for an eye condition after the recent passage of health care reform is not a burned down house.

Our voices are urgently needed to remind the opponents of health care reform of the obvious: We're talking about people--children, mothers, fathers, sisters, and brothers--and not about buildings.  The time is now to come together to bring the common sense voices of MomsRising members like Tracy and Dawn straight to the halls of Congress, and to ramp up our efforts to reach out to the media and share what's really going on with parents across the nation.

Health care reform is critical to millions of families.  If 1,000 parents donate just $10 we'll meet our goal this week of raising $10,000 to bring forward the voices and experiences of families across the nation directly to members of Congress.

Can you help us out by donating $10 or more today?

http://action.momsrising.org/go/490

What's the plan? MomsRising members will work in unison with other national organizations to amplify the messages to Congress in the coming weeks, reminding them that America's families support and need health reform.  We'll remind Congress that they need to keep standing up for families, not health insurance lobbyists.  And we'll make sure Congress can't ignore us by donning our MomsRising supermom t-shirts and personally delivering these messages with on-the-ground members in DC, and also bringing moms like Tracy and Dawn straight to Congress to share their experiences.  (There's nothing like TV images of fed up moms to make elected officials nervous.)

Congress needs to hear that our kids aren't burned down houses. They are people.  People who need health care reform to keep moving forward.  No excuses.

But we need your help. We can't keep up the fight without your continued support.  Can you help out now by donating $10 or more?

http://action.momsrising.org/go/490

Our children and our families are our nation's future and we can't roll back the gains we've made for our families like ending pre-existing condition exclusions and making it illegal for insurers to drop people when they get sick. [3]

Now is the time to give it all we've got.

We have fought too hard and too long to turn back.  Please donate now and join us to fight for our children's future.

http://action.momsrising.org/go/490

Thank you for the heroism you show every day!

[1,2] Huckabee Says No To Insurance For People With Pre-Existing Conditions

[3] http://www.momsrising.org/healthcare You can also read hundreds of health care stories from MomsRising members across the nation via this link.