Perspectives

Change That Means Something to Real Americans
By wchung | 07 Jun, 2026

Health care reform will be the most important realization of Obama's promise of change.

Last Saturday the word Obama and so many Americans have been clamoring for has finally climbed out of its symbolic snakehole and into the much more complex world of legislative warfare. I’m talking about change, people. Change, in the form of the most monumental healthcare reform in recent history. A change that has swept through the House and if passed by Senate, can possibly provide 96% of Americans with health insurance, whether the insurance companies like it or not.

I know that this bill, as with all bills, is not as simplistic as it appears. It’s not just about making sure everyone can see a doctor. There are political, economic and social implications that many are not pleased about. The Civil War was not about the slavery, yet slavery was abolished shortly after. Likewise, this healthcare bill may be a fiscal regime masquerading under pretty morals, but in the end, thirty-six million more Americans will have health insurance.

When this idea first registered, I felt a rare spike of adrenaline that brought back memories of high school, when I was part of Government Team – a debate team that traveled wide and far, debating about the politics, the bill of rights, and the legislative and Supreme Court decisions of the past and present. It was a grueling process and after many months of scrutinizing every constitutional clause, culminating in a crushing second-place finish in one of the more beautiful rooms at our state capitol, I learned two things. One, going into politics is like welcoming clogged arteries with open arms. And two, we are so far behind from carrying out the ideals our founding fathers envisioned for this country.

But this bill, I believe, is bringing us that much closer to that ideal. All motives and conspiracy theories aside, the idea that virtually all Americans will finally inherit their inalienable right to live, whether they can afford it or not… well, from a constitutional standpoint, it doesn’t get any more democratic than this.