For those of you who may not remember, I used to be known around here as "Kristi1696". I was an early supporter of Barack Obama in the primaries and devoted countless hours registering voters and campaigning on his behalf. It would be fair to have characterized me as one of his more hardcore supporters on DU.

Needless to say, I was thrilled by his election and held great hope for what his Presidency could mean.

I am also a medical student at a school representing a medically underserved population and, understandably, health care reform was and is my top issue. And I'm pretty sure you all know how well that "fight" has been going.

A few months ago I posted this thread:

If a Dem controlled House, Senate and WH can't even succeed on the POS Public Option, I'm out.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discu...

So I'm here today to say, "I'm out". Really out.

Ironically, I learned the fate of the public option while glancing at the TV in the room of a patient who has been living at the hospital for YEARS because his insurance company refuses to pay for the rehab he needs, but are happy to pay his exorbitant inpatient fees and pass the expense along to all of you. I heard about the death of the public option just before rounding on a patient who has been trapped at the hospital for over a month, preparing medically for a life-saving procedure. She should be preparing at home, but she has no insurance. If she were to be discharged now she would never be readmitted for her surgery, and she would die. Everyday she cries to go home, but discharging her would be signing her death certificate. So we keep coming up with reasons to keep her until she can have her surgery. The hospital will eventually eat the cost of her treatment.

So the next time the Democratic Party wants money or help campaigning, they can look elsewhere. I'm going to be too busy dealing with the mess they made with health care.

I.AM.OUT.