"Millions of our citizens do not now have a full measure of opportunity to achieve and to enjoy good health. Millions do not now have protection or security against the economic effects of sickness. And the time has now arrived for action to help them attain that opportunity and to help them get that protection."

These were the words of President Harry Truman when he delivered a message to Congress about the need for national health care on November 19, 1945.  Almost sixty-five years later, those words still ring true for too many Americans.

By 1949, the private corporate forces which opposed national health care were offering $3,000 prizes to those political cartoonists who best depicted the evils of “socialized medicine."  Sound familiar?

Twenty years later, on July 30, 1965, Truman stood with then-President Lyndon Johnson at the bill signing for Medicare, the first major publicly-administered health care program in the United States. Prior to Medicare, half of our seniors lived in poverty and could not get health insurance.  After the creation of the program, poverty decreased by two-thirds as seniors and disabled people enjoyed dependable health insurance.

Today, the same powerful forces want to stop health care reform efforts and, just as in 1949, they are masters at creating a climate of fear and confusion.  But ask any senior today if they “fear” being eligible for Medicare benefits and here's the answer you'll most likely hear: “Why should anyone be afraid of Medicare?”  The program offers them the peace-of-mind we all deserve: No one will drop them from insurance if they get sick, no one will deny them treatment for a pre-existing condition, and no CEO will bring home a multi-million dollar salary amassed from their premiums.

The current controversy over the proposed public option -- which seeks to expand health care availability and bring down costs -- is nothing new.  This struggle has raged in our country for nearly a century.  On November 14, 1934, Franklin D. Roosevelt first noted that, “economic loss due to sickness,” results “in problem for many families with and without incomes." 

Perhaps during this new round of debate, as Americans are once again getting bombarded with misinformation regarding publicly administered healthcare, we should heed Roosevelt’s most famous words, “We have nothing to fear but fear itself."

Now is not the time to allow the politics of fear to delay history.  Now is the time to make history.  If you have not yet volunteered or worked for health care reform, do something and do it soon.  This is undoubtedly the most historical opportunity for change in our generation.  Don’t sit on the sidelines.  Be a part of history.

Lynda DeLaforgue is the co-director of Citizen Action/Illinois, the lead Illinois member of the Health Care for America Now (HCAN) coalition. To learn more, visit their website or Facebook page.