Forty-five million Americans have no health insurance.
We've heard it so often that we accept it as normal and even acceptable. Our problem is we seldom have reason to bring the statistical reality into our personal experience. Low-income, working Americans deal with this harsh fact on a daily basis.
Consider for a moment what it means for a father like "Charlie," who works over 40 hours every week. He comes home to a wife of fifteen years and three children. He earns less than $10 an hour. His employer provides no benefits--no health insurance for him or his family.
When one of his children gets sick, Charlie's choices are limited. He or his wife can take the child to one of the neighborhood for-profit clinics (read "Doc in a box"), if he can scrape together the money. Or, the child can be taken to the emergency room at a local hospital. Here the wait is long, the cost of care is the highest and, because there is no insurance coverage, the bill for services most likely must be written off as a loss by the hospital.
Add to the family's health care burden the fact that Charlie is diabetic and recently has had severe bouts with kidney stones. Thanks to his uninsured status, the treatment protocol at the local hospital ER is to treat his symptoms with pain medication and antibiotics. He has never been admitted to the hospital for proper care for only one reason: he is poor and cannot pay for the treatment he needs. Adequate testing would reveal that his kidney function is deteriorating.
Charlie's earning power makes the regular purchase of insulin and testing equipment sporadic at best. The entire system, as Charlie knows it, is unfair, inefficient and immoral. His choices are limited at best.
Still, he gets up every morning and goes to work like all good fathers do. No doubt Charlie will die too young and suffer needlessly because the current system is so shaped by free market forces that his needs cannot be met.
Health care is not considered a human right in America today. Rather, it is fast becoming a privilege reserved for the wealthy. Just ask Charlie and the other 45 million in our nation who face some of the same harsh, unjust challenges.
"He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God." Proverbs 14:31 (NIV)
I've views expressed by non-christians on the health care situation in the US but I was always looking for a Christian perspective... and I am glad I stumbled into your page because it shows that you have the heart of Christ because he came to 'heal the sick..'
ReplyDeleteI feel one should campaign against the immorality of this situation because there is a danger of this 'market force structured health care system' spreading to other countries as well. There was a talk of bringing in health insurance in the country where I am (Bahrain) because at the moment, there is subsidised treatment for all at government hospitals.
I think our prayer should be that mammon should not control health care anymore.
I just lost a good friend of mine last week. She was in her early 60's. She had worked for many years grooming dogs for a living and was planning to retire the 24th of this month. Her job offered no health insurance, no benefits, and barely even gave her days off for holidays. She died of a stroke. I am convinced that her hard work and stress, due to lack of vacations, benefits, and healthcare, killed her.
ReplyDeleteI am worried about her sister for the same reason. She has been the backbone of her family her entire life and has been working in the same field for around 25 years. She currently has carpel tunnel syndrome and other hand problems because of working in this same field--grooming dogs. She medicates herself with pain pills so that her hand will move and she can continue working to earn a living.
It boggles my mind that our society claims to be so indignant about moral issues, yet does not make the connection between morality and health care and quality of life for all people. The very babies that are being born due to pro-life activists, if they are born into poverty, are often being killed later in life because of a system that doesn't honor their existence--or even their hard work. How can we convince that these issues are morality issues as well?!
As a small employer I am not blind to the plight of the working poor. Some of them work for me. My insurance costs are so high I am considering adding to the 45 million of the uninsured by dropping insurance all together. It is no longer a matter of deserve, it is cost. If I have to pay someone's health insurance premiums that total $3,600 per year plus FICA & FUTA of 7.65% of income, my costs for one employee can rise to over $30,000 for his or her income at $25,000 per year. This employee doesn't help my company make $5,000 per year, so what do I do?
ReplyDeleteFrom what I understand Insurance Companies are not really making any more money today than they did 30 years ago as a percentage of premiums, so that must not be the issue. Doctors say they are making less, so that must not be the issue. Drug manufacturing companies seem to be doing well, but advertise too much. Is that the problem? Hospitals are adding on, but say they are dying? Lawyers are saying that they are not the problem. It must be our demand for health care. Your example is rare, I bet. I have employees that go to the doctor because they thought that they might be getting a cold. They didn't pay much to see the doc, but the insurance company did. Could that be the problem? Part of it.
So what if Government does take over health care. I am not saying this is the answer but I do have some questions. Right now my employees don't pay any part of their premiums. If the government takes it over I must assume that they will have to raise taxes somewhere to pay for it. If they raise taxes on everyone (Individuals) then my employee will pay more for health care than he pays now. (Perhaps ok if benefits and costs are better than what he has now, but likely worse and more expensive.) If the government taxes business then I am right back where I started if not worse off because I have never seen the government do anything more efficiently than private industry on either cost or delivery. Besides that, I lose choice. Set aside the horror stories of rationing and poor care from other countries that have socialized medicine and I think perfection may not be available and current is better than what you might consider progress.
I think we must figure out how to get my employee to contribute more than $5,000 so that I can afford to pay him more in money and benefits.
Thanks, Anonymous for your thoughtful response. I agree with much of what you said. I also think it unreasonable for your employees to pay nothing toward their own health insurance. I can tell you in the world where I live and work "Charlie's" case is not rare--lots of people don't work for a fair employer such as yourself.
ReplyDeleteAs to the record of the American health care system, the public health measurements of every Western nation are much better than ours. Yet, we spend more than any nation on health care with poor results. What nations with universal coverage lose in exotic procedures and treatments for the rich few, they make up for and more in the overall health of their citizens measured in life expectancy and chronic disease management.
As for the efficiency of private solutions, that is actually one of the great American myths. The Medicare system is one of the most efficient, if not the most efficient in the world as a % of costs for admin. Last year private insurance carriers spent over $45 billion on admin costs. . .hmmm, rich paneling, fine offices and lots of executive perks. You don't find those at Medicare.
The drug companies are cleaning up and, as recent reports indicate, not doing such a hot job of research and testing. The rush to the market place is fierce!
Medicine defined strictly by the market place produces something less than ideal.
The solution is likely a blend of single payer system with contributions from all. The entire burden should not fall on you or your employees. But the insurance lobby is very strong.
My bet is "Charlie" and lots more folks like those you employ will be suffering in the days ahead.
What kind of community do we really want in this nation? What sort of workforce? Do we care about fairness any more in America?