On the eve of a new year, disabled Americans can look forward to a new health insurance benefit.

Friday, December 31, 1999

On the eve of a new year, disabled Americans can look forward to a new health insurance benefit. Last week, President Clinton signed into law a bill allowing the disabled to keep government-funded coverage when they get a job.

The move is long overdue.

Our society has prided itself in removing obstacles to the American dream. Our founding fathers based the Constitution on the supposition that the pursuit life, liberty and happiness is everyone’s right. Our courts have stricken down rules that held this group or that group.

But enormous medical bills and sometimes shoddy insurance have kept many talented and creative people out of the private workplace and reliant upon the government’s benevolence just because they are disabled.

Hard workers are not limited by debilitating diseases or conditions. They work despite the obstacles – a lesson we all should take to heart this season as we make our New Year’s resolutions.

Disabled Americans deserve the same chance to succeed that we all receive.

This new law gives them that chance by guaranteeing that when they fill out that employment application their future paychecks will not be handed right back to the insurance company.

It lets them know that they can rely upon continued benefits while they look for work.

In essence, it once again proves that our country is willing to let anyone step up to the plate and try their luck for a home run in life.

And when they succeed, we all succeed, benefitting from new ideas, new wealth and the new opportunity of a new law in this new year.