In the winter of 1854 when Lord Alfred Tennyson first wrote “The Charge of the Light Brigade” he described in his narrative an ensemble of people who follow their brigade as part of their patriotic duty; in fact, so immersed are these foot soldiers in their sense of civic obligation that they never question where the brigadier may lead them no matter how dark, murky, or terminal the plight. They just follow the call of their duty.

Before I begin to dissect the pros and cons of the Obamacare plan, I would like to reflect on the ideals and civic pride this country was founded upon. No matter how left or right-wing we may be, no matter how republican or democratic we may consider ourselves to be, as a citizen it is incumbent upon us to pay heed to the president chosen by the masses, regardless of our personal preference.

One might propagate that as a Healthcare IT expert, I am trying to propagate a philosophy that is akin to the trajectory of the Industry I serve, but upon considering all the facts, the emerging reality appears quite stark. The Obamacare Plan is in fact the biggest healthcare overhaul to have been proposed since the inception of Medicare and Medicaid back in 1965; which, coincidentally, was the same year that the rock band ‘The Doors’ was formed as well. I can almost visualize a sentimental summon by a psychedelic Jim Morrison luring us to the “other side”, inviting us to take the leap of evolution; an evolution that frees us from the confines of a flailing healthcare ideology that is an irascible drain on the quasi-patriarchal nexus we believe to be the liberating force behind an otherwise mechanistically impoverished generation.

This raises another alarming truth that when we are so technologically-oriented, driven, and dependent in our everyday conduct that we even text our near and dear ones sitting right across from us in our living room hallways. Why should we choose to lambast a plan that utilizes Healthcare Information Technology to contribute to a better quality of care that we have always aspired to but never fully accomplished?

This calls to mind the visual imagery created by the 1917 poem by Wilfred Owen, a British bard of innate alluring literature, who titled it aptly so, “Dulce et decorum est” which literally translated, means ‘It is sweet and right’. I want to draw a parallel between these words and my description of the Obamacare Plan; it is so sweet and right that it could not come at a more opportune moment in history when we are faced with the spurt of the baby boomers maturing into generation next, and so much medical information and data just waiting to be streamlined and utilized to produce staggering medical feats. We certainly must not rush to dispel an Act that aims to increase the quality and affordability of health insurance, lower the uninsured rate by expanding public and private insurance coverage, and reduce the costs of healthcare for individuals and the government.

It also aims to provide a number of mechanisms—including mandates, subsidies, and insurance exchanges—to increase coverage and affordability. The list of all the benefits of this act is endless and it would be naïve of me to list them all here, but I will unequivocally say that there is more good in this Act than harm. Ironically enough, Wilfred Owen’s epitaph reads, “Here lays one whose name was written on water” and he’s one of the best poets our English friends can brag about, so why can’t we beam with pride behind our visionary President for giving us a plan that can potentially revolutionize Healthcare as we know it?