Earlier last week, around the 17th of June, 2009, I was engaged in a deep, serious conversation with my younger brother Matthew on the issues surrounding our own separate health care coverage/insurance problems. He and his fiancée has a baby boy on the way due in October, and he's been shuffling around trying to find the best benefits package that will suit he and his soon to be family's needs once the little one is welcomed to the world. I became highly interested in what he had to say about how he's going about his business as far as getting the correct and beneficial amount of benefits, so I asked him how could someone like myself, a college student (yes, I know...I should be well graduated by now, however, I'm a late bloomer - better late than never) who needs to start thinking of his future. He gave me a web address that offers many different ways of obtaining health insurance and medical care coverage for yourself, your dependents and so on. Later that night, I decided "why not give it a shot?" So I spent the next 20 minutes or so filling out this questionnaire online and then finally was able to submit it.

Fast forward to 5 days later, and I receive a letter in return for my filing of the application. As it turns out, it was a "NOT ELIGIBLE NOTICE". As I read this letter further, it doesn't so much as upset me for the fact that I was denied eligibility, but for why I was ineligible to begin with. This is what it states, and I quote this verbatim:

"You have been determined not eligible for benefits based on your application dated 06/17/2009.

"Medical/Health Insurance is for people who meet these eligibility requirements:

• Pregnant;
• Disabled;
• Blind;
• Custodial Parents and Relatives Caring for Children Under 21;
• Children Under 21;
• People Over 59;
• Pregnant Female Under The Age of 21;
• If You Are A Refugee.

"Since you have not shown that you meet one of these criteria, you are not eligible for Medical/Health Care Coverage."

So let me get this straight... Because I am not pregnant, I am not eligible. Check. Because I am not disabled, I am not eligible. Got it. Because I am not blind, I am not eligible. Wouldn't being blind mean you were disabled? Because I am not under the age of 21 or 59 years or older, I am not eligible. Pretty convenient that I fit right between the two age gaps. Because I am not a custodial parent. I understand that, makes sense to me.

But here's the part that really, how should I put it?...Please allow me to take a line from Seth MacFarlane's animated character from the hit tv show Family Guy, Peter Griffin's segment "What Grinds My Gears". And it does, it not only grinds my gears, but it absolutely pisses me right off. The last sentence of that ineligibility notice was that I was not a refugee.
A refu- what?

Refugee you say? Oh okay, okay. Whew, for a moment I thought you meant a foreigner.

Wait! What?!

I decide that I better get a harder understanding on the word "refugee", so I head over to Merriam-Webster's website for an "official" definition on the word "refugee". This is what I come up with:

Main Entry: ref.u.gee

Pronunciation: \re-fyu-jē, re-fyu-geeˌ\

Function: noun

Etymology: French réfugié, past participle of (se) réfugier to take refuge, from Middle French refugier, from Latin refugium Date: 1685

one that flees ; especially : a person who flees to a foreign country or power to escape danger or persecution.

So that being said, a refugee is a more loosely worded noun describing a foreigner.
Now allow me to get this straight, because I am not foreign, I am ineligible? Because I am not FOREIGN?! Are you seriously kidding around here? I was born in this country for crying out loud!

1981; Elmira, New York, United States of America.

1981; The Cold War era.

1981; Reagan succeeds Carter as President.

1981; 52 American hostages are freed in Iran.

1981; John Hinckley, Jr. shoots Reagan over an obsession with actress Jodie Foster.

1981; AIDS is revealed as a deadly disease.

1981; The MLBPA goes on strike.

1981; Simon and Garfunkle perform The Concert In Central Park.

1981; The first American Test-tube baby is born.

1981...Okay, enough of the little history lesson, you get it, I get it, we all get it.

So because I am not of foreign descent, I am not eligible for Health Care coverage or Medical Insurance. This is what his country has come to? Allowing "refugees" the chance for Medical coverage and Health Insurance, but not to its own citizens, born, bred and raised.
This is something that, though I feel like it's a miniscule start, it has to be said. I want my voice to be heard. If this is the kind of country we live in now, just imagine how it'll be for generations to come. My brother is bringing a new life into this world in a very short 5 months. I'm not so sure I'd want to bring any form of life into this world if this is what our country is coming to.

And also, I understand that there is a growing need to reach out to those who have come here for shelter, safety, freedom without fear of persecution, but to what expense? And to whose expense? Maybe I should move to Canada, apply for Canadian citizenship, then move back to the United States and then apply for this coverage. I'd simply explain to them that I'm now a refugee fleeing my country because of the cold weather. (This is where you giggle a bit). But in all seriousness, we, as a nation, have to come together during these times of economic uncertainty, write to our Congressmen/Congresswomen, our State Legislatures and lawmakers demanding that we the American People get proper, equal healthcare, medical benefits and coverages!

My father put it best last night, after conversing with him about this "notice of ineligibility" , when he said: "You're part of the last generation who will ever know and remember what this country was like before it turned to shit." (Excuse the foul language.)

Pops, I could not have said that better myself.