Tommy Smith is 7 years old. Tommy is just like any other 7 year old boy: he likes to play baseball, he’d rather eat an extra cookie than a single bite of broccoli, and he watches cartoons on Saturday morning while wearing Ninja Turtle pajamas. Tommy also has brain cancer. Because of this, Tommy’s parents cannot get health care for their son. Without health insurance, the chances of Tommy receiving adequate medical care for his condition are very slim. Tommy is excited for his eighth birthday, which he may never see.

Even though Tommy Smith is fictional, his situation is all too real for over 50 million Americans all across the country who do not have health insurance. They come from every economic and cultural background, every age group, and every state of well-being. The 2009 health care law, dubbed “Obamacare,” is primed to remedy this situation and provide the 16.7% of citizens who cannot afford it or who have been denied coverage with health insurance.

In the capitalist market, health care services are doled out to the “highest bidder.” Not only is health insurance itself reserved for only those who are at least moderately wealthy, but not even every insured patient is privy to the same treatment and care.

Take seniors for instance. Medicine is expensive, and each year, after their insurance pays $2,840 of their prescription costs, the elderly are left on their own to pay $1,710 out of their own pocket, at which point the vicious cycle begin all over again. Under the new health care plan, this “doughnut hole” will shrink each year until it is completely eliminated in 2020.

Poor and minority patients are also a concern. In addition to patients with pre-existing conditions like little Tommy Smith, members of minorities are often discriminated against when attempting to get health care, sometimes being denied coverage completely. Obamacare outlaws discrimination against any group of people. In addition, the plan requires medical professionals to train in ways to enhance their knowledge about and treatment of specific ethnic groups.

And what about children like Tommy? Of the 50 million uninsured patients, 10 million are children. Under Obamacare children of struggling parents will also be guaranteed more-than-adequate health care coverage. As an extra bonus, all children, whether dependent or not, will be able to remain on their parents’ insurance until they are 26, leading to healthier college students who can put the money they would have paid on health insurance costs toward their college tuitions.

The other benefits of Obamacare are countless. In the doctor’s office, patients will be provided with teams of medical staff (primary care doctors, specialists, nurse practitioners) who will work together to on all aspects of each patient’s health. This means each of a patient’s doctors will know about all of his or her conditions and what medicines he or she has been prescribed by another doctor, diffusing potentially dangerous mixings of prescriptions and treatments. These teams of doctors, as well as their patients, will also now be privy to digital medical records which the patient will even be able to access from their home computer. Medical personnel will also receive bonuses for using preventative techniques, instead of getting that extra cash for what they must do after a patient is already ill.

Opponents of the healthcare law cite it as only another addition to the nation’s budget deficit. However, data from the CBO refutes these claims, showing that, though the federal government will be developing new community medical facilities and providing the economically disadvantaged with full health insurance coverage, the project will save the country about $8 billion over the next two years alone.

So remember your health. Remember the health of your family. Remember the health of your neighbors, coworkers, and hairdresser. Remember the health of Tommy Smith. By supporting Obamacare you’ll not only be insuring the well-being of these people, you’ll be insuring a nation.