As we stop to honor our mothers on Mother’s Day, I want to pay special tribute to all that mothers do in West Virginia and across the nation to make our families and communities strong, especially in these tough economic times.

Mothers are facing hard choices each and every day: choices about how they’re going to stretch paychecks to put food on the table, choices about whether they can afford school supplies or a new pair of shoes, and choices about whether the family can afford a trip to the doctor. 

In Congress we have been working with our new President to shore up our economy and put people back to work, and we have begun at last an intensive effort to reform our health care system.

During my recent travels around our state, I listened to the voices of struggling West Virginians, and the stories from West Virginia mothers were especially heart-wrenching.

When a working mother has a lifetime health insurance limit of $350,000 and is prevented from receiving the treatment she needs for a potentially fatal disease, then our system is broken. When any mom has to choose between buying meals for the week and getting a needed prescription for her child, then our system is broken. When an expectant mother is kicked off her insurance plan because her pregnancy qualifies as a “pre-existing condition,” then our system is broken.

Just imagine what that means for a new mom. Rejecting coverage of a pregnancy is not just a barrier to care – it is an insurmountable obstacle for hard-working families who are simply trying to do the best they can with the options they have.

I’m determined to pass meaningful, transformative health care reform this year, and West Virginians need a voice at the table. As Chairman of the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Health Care and Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, I plan to give them just that and to fight for a health care system that lives up to ideals of this great country.

As always, we thank Anna Jarvis, the West Virginia native who highlighted for all Americans during another time of great change and challenge in our country the importance of giving thanks to the backbone of our society – mothers.  

Anna Jarvis set a high standard for how we show love, honor and respect to our mothers – and its time we set an equally high standard for how we help mothers get the quality health care they need for themselves and their families.