A Victory for Freedom

Health care reform is now the law of the land. It is an historical achievement that builds upon the progress of Social Security and Medicare in protecting all citizens against financial and physical uncertainty and risk. It continues in the long line of progressive reform that runs through the New Deal and the Great Society.

Make no mistake about it: This legislation is a victory for freedom--what FDR called freedom from want and freedom from fear. No longer is health care security dependent on employment, or income, or a person's ability to avoid bad luck.

Health care has always been a human, personal issue. It is also a societal issue. The growing plight of an increasing segment of American society cannot be--and with this bill, will not be--disconnected from the health of society as a whole. With passage of health care reform, American society has become a bit more humane, a bit fairer, and a bit more supporting in the face of unexpected, unplanned physical calamity. With health care reform, we've taken a large step in ensuring that our individual medical risks are collectively pooled.

And emerging from this arrangement is an increased sense of human freedom--a freedom that will not be stifled by crushing, unexpected medical costs or bankruptcy.