CNN iReport

President Obama greeted a group of citizens through a video message in the virtual world of Second Life (a virtual world in which people can interact). “I need your voice to be a part of the debate,” stated the President as those in attendance gathered their thoughts for the discussion on Health Care reform. Obama acknowledged that “It’s a challenged that has vexed this nation” and encouraged individuals to share their personal stories to help advance support for the reform.

The event was lead by Siri Vita, who has brought other events to Second Life addressing health care for the Obama administration in the past (documented at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YghepF0uv3E). “Currently the system is set up so that these people don't get the preventative care, often not even the acute care they need leading to intervention only being available when a situation becomes catastrophic. The long term consequences of this type of system have been extremely costly both in human and monetary terms. I agree that something has to be done and that now is the time.” Second Life provided a flexible venue for the discussion.

The event was a part of “Organizing for America,” which was formed by the Democratic National Committee after the election of President Obama. Organizing for America is attempting to capture the “grassroots” feel of the successful Obama campaign. The group has three stated objectives:

1. Reduce Cost

2. Guarantee Choice

3. Ensure all Americans have quality affordable health care

The community discussions are planned to lead to health care reform legislation on the President’s desk by the end of this year; drafted by July and passed through Congress by October. The meeting within Second Life was just one of many planned throughout communities around the country. After the video, a letter from the President to Senators Kennedy and Baucus was distributed, and residents began sharing personal stories and thoughts on the reform. The Justice League Unlimited (JLU) provided peacekeeping services for the discussion.

Delia Lake stated the benefits of having the administration’s efforts tied into the virtual world, “So far as educating people, SL can play a very important role. In discussions like this, sometimes new ideas emerge that no one thought of before.” The commentary from the meeting will be provided to “Organizing for America” for use in their attempt to support the President’s health care objectives.

Stories and thoughts were shared; many which focused on how nationalized, affordable health care may have a positive impact on families, children, businesses, and possibly prevent deaths due to high specialized medical costs. Many individuals were concerned with the growing costs of health care. A statistic was mentioned that health care costs cause bankruptcy in America every thirty seconds. Siri, the event organizer, freely expressed her concerns when she recently transitioned to a new job. The transition period left her without medical coverage.

The group considered reform to be a possible positive economic impact in difficult times; especially noting that new options could be created for small businesses. The costs of insurance were suggested to limit entrepreneurial opportunities, while public and affordable plans would allow for expansion of private opportunities by reducing financial risks.

There were a variety of opinions though on the planned approach for health care reform, some of which did not favor President Obama’s proposal. One resident felt the current reform concepts were too moderate, and a “single payer” health system would be more ideal and should be demanded for by Organizing for America. A single payer describes a system where all health care providers are covered from a single fund (the Canadian System is often cited as an example). The vast majority of the group considered Obama’s approach to be a step in the right direction stating that “perfection at the expense of the essential” would be ill advised.

The meeting ended with plans for a “Nation Day of Health Care Service” on June 27^th. Activity ideas were briefly discussed with some concepts focused on the using the strengths of the achievements of Gentle Heron. Gentle, recent winner of the Linden Lab Prize ($10,000 USD to a person/group for their virtual world achievements), commented on how the upcoming event can create positive strides. “Virtual worlds offer many tangible and intangible benefits to people with a wide variety of disabilities. I would like to see wider recognition of the use of virtual worlds as an integral part of the provision of health care.” Gentle’s work focuses on Virtual Ability Island, a location that helps enable people with a wide range of disabilities by providing a supporting environment for them to enter and thrive in online virtual worlds.

“I see the passage of this legislation as the great accomplishment of our generation” stated Siri in closing. “Just like we look back at the days of the civil rights struggle and wonder how there ever was a time that all people weren't allowed to vote, that a "separate but equal" doctrine was considered somehow right, although everyone knew it was a farce. And we think of those that struggled to change the minds and hearts of people to see what truly was the right path. I hope that someday in the future people will look back and wonder how we ever allowed a system where the poor were not given access to basic health care, that the mindset that the poor can use emergency rooms if they're sick is inherently flawed and a farce, that the people in the future truly believe that this is so basic and important that they can't imagine it ever being any other way.”

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Organizing for America: http://my.barackobama.com

Virtual Ability: http://www.VirtualAbility.org

The Daily Planet SL: http://kryptonradio.com