Guaranteed Healthcare

I was the HR Administrator for a company that recently closed operations. All employees lost their healthcare and dental coverage and were not informed of this until several days after the fact. There were employees who received heathcare/dental services in that time period thinking they were covered and were not. To add to the difficulty of losing their paychecks as well as their healthcare coverage they also found out that they were not eligible for CAL COBRA since the company no longer existed as a business entity. Even though the HIPAA plan came as an option for some, there were many who did not have the 18 month prior coverage to be eligible--some with pre-existing conditions that would make finding individual coverage difficult, if not impossible. For those who were eligible for the HIPAA plan, many were not able to afford the high plan costs due to the fact they had lost their jobs. I am a naturalized citizen and am proud to have made a very conscious decision to become a part of this country as well as a California resident. I am ashamed and outraged that a country that can tout being one of the richest--if not THE richest--countries on the planet cannot provide universal healthcare coverage for it's hardworking citizens. Many of these employees were not just my co-workers, but also my friends and it has been a difficult situation to have to explain to them what little rights and benefits they have and how both the state and federal government have done very little to protect them. I have always been proud of being an American. How many countries can state that some of it's main objectives for its citizens are the unalienable rights of Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness? Our government needs to remember that one of these essential rights is the right to life and that means a universal healthcare plan.