Edward M. Kennedy

By the time he died of brain cancer last week at the age of 77, Senator Edward M. Kennedy had achieved an enduring legislative legacy that permanently marks him as one of the most important progressive political leaders in America’s history. The scope of his accomplishments is enormous, extending from civil rights to foreign affairs to consumer protection and more (see the Time magazine feature highlighting Kennedy’s “Top 10 Legislative Battles“).

Sen. Christopher Dodd, a long-time friend and colleague, said at a wake held in Massachusetts last week that Kennedy’s imprint is visible on “nearly every important law passed in the last half-century.” Significantly, this legacy is nowhere more pronounced than in the areas of health care and disability rights.

It was Ted Kennedy who, in 1990, introduced the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits workplace discrimination against people with disabilities and requires that all public buildings feature appropriate accommodations. His championing of this cause was informed by his own family life; his sister Rosemary suffered from mental illness, his son Ted. Jr. had his leg amputated at age 12 after being diagnosed with bone cancer, and his son Patrick struggles with bipolar disorder and substance abuse (see “Kennedy a champion for disability rights,” CNN, Aug. 29).

It was Kennedy who served as a sponsor and one of the two main champions, along with Dodd,  of the Family and Medical Leave Act.  The Act, which was finally passed under President Bill Clinton in 1993 after two vetoes under the previous administration, requires companies with 50 or more employees to grant three months of unpaid leave to workers who need to care for a new child or sick relative.

And it was Kennedy who, in an essay he wrote for Newsweek just one month before his death, called the achievement of national health insurance coverage for U.S. citizens “the cause of my life . . . . For four decades I have carried this cause — from the floor of the United States Senate to every part of this country. It has never been merely a question of policy; it goes to the heart of my belief in a just society . . . . Our response to these challenges will define our character as a country.”

This was not just posturing; Kennedy’s support for national health insurance extended all the way back to the 1960s, when, observing the success of the newly created (1965) Medicare program, he said (pdf) in a 1969 speech at Boston University Medical Center, “We must begin to move now to establish a comprehensive national health insurance program, capable of bringing the same amount and high quality of health care to every man, woman, and child in the United States.”

Over the years, Kennedy’s successes in extending health care to more Americans included the Ryan White Act, which provides support for people living with AIDS, and SCHIP, the program that extended coverage to most of the nation’s children.

In his final efforts to extend health care from birth to death, Kennedy pressed for a new social insurance program that would help to provide long-term care services and supports  for seniors and people with disabilities and chronic illness.  In the recent Newsweek essay, he explained his support for the Community Living Assistance Services and Support (CLASS) Act:

Social justice is often the best economics. We can help disabled Americans who want to live in their homes instead of a nursing home. Simple things can make all the difference, like having the money to install handrails or have someone stop by and help every day. It’s more humane and less costly-for the government and for families-than paying for institutionalized care. That’s why we should give all Americans a tax deduction to set aside a small portion of their earnings each month to provide for long-term care.

“We are saddened by the passing of Senator Kennedy, whose commitment to social justice, quality jobs, and health care for all was inspirational,” said Steve Edelstein, PHI National Policy Director. “There can be no more fitting tribute to the Senator, in view of his vision and his life’s work, than for Congress to pass a health care bill that ensures accessible and affordable coverage for all Americans.”