On Friday, November 4, 2005, The Kaiser Family Foundation, through its highly respected Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, issued a report on the latest health coverage trends in the U. S.
The number of uninsured Americans increased by 4.6 million persons from 2001 to 2004. Federal "safety net" funding for the same period fell from $546 to $498 per person.
Total federal spending for the uninsured increased by 1.3 percent over the same period that the number of uninsured increased by 11.2 percent.
The result was a decline in funding of 8.9% per uninsured person.
A recent study released by the Urban Institute reports that of the 6 million new uninsured between 2000 and 2004, two-thirds of the increase was among persons whose annual incomes fell below 200% of poverty (about $39,000 for a family of four).
Does any of this matter to people of faith?
What sort of health care system did Christ advocate?
ReplyDeleteAre there any specific scriptures, either in the NT or OT, that might shed some light on the much-debated national health care plan?
I'll handle this one Larry...
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, please see "the Gospels"
You will find Jesus helping, serving, laughing with and living with the poor and the sick constantly.
You might also want to reference Acts 2,3 to see how people took care of one another. Specifically note the phrase, "no needs" and "shared everything"
I don't often live the aforementioned lifestyles, but I'm convicted that Christ did.
Larry really summed it up with his closing question: "Does any of this matter to people of faith?"
If it would begin to matter then we could take steps to find creative solutions to these problems. But if it doesn't matter then solutions stay equally swept under the rug.
And it will only matter if we "cross the road" and actually touch the poor. Only then will our hearts be touched.
The sad truth is that for every 11.2% increase of uninsured, there is a 25% decrease of compassion among people of faith.
I would encourage you to spend some time with Larry and his friends. You'll find that Jesus was the advocate!
I hope my words are received with the love that I intended them. I'm just a little "fired up" for the least of these today. This morning our church is attempting to raise $100,100 for missions and social justice. If we do, and we meet our budget for '06, we will be on pace to give 25% of all collected funds from our church away! I'm stoked!
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Love you Larry!
Joel, thanks for your post and answer. Your enthusiasm is contagious! Best wishes in your activites at church today--well done on your great plans!
ReplyDeleteChrist has no health care plan because his day was not our day. I can say with great confidence that we have been asking these questions for centuries in Western civilization largely because of what the vast majority of believers across the ages have discerned about his principles and what they mean practically.
For example, most hospital systems, at least in the west, as well as around the world were begun by people who claimed to follow him.
We also have a democratic system allowing us as a people to respond to the scale of our social problems at least in part because of the principles and values of this man Jesus.
If nothing else matters, health should matter to people of faith. As a Christian, I believe that I belong to a people who celebrate and live in the hope of Christ's eternal victory over death. We are the folks who He has chosen to participate in proclaiming the coming of a Kingdom of Life. With numbers such as these, it is obvious that health, the vehicle of life, is not the message of the kingdom of this world. As a medical student, it appears that I have a grim road ahead of me. However, I have not lost the hope that another way is possible. I pray that the Church will remember who she is, and love, act, and critique accordingly when it comes to the Empire's unflinching capacity to deny the chance of life through health to those that are the greatest in the kingdom to which I am fortunate enough to belong.
ReplyDeletec hand, as Larry has described in previous posts, there is not a vast warehouse of health care somewhere sitting unused. There is a vastly inefficient system known as private insurance (invented here in Dallas, I just found out, as a way to care for local teachers). A national model similar to Medicaid/Medicare could more efficiently invest the money in health care rather than administrative overhead and the pockets of shareholders.
ReplyDeleteTranslation?
More people get treatment. We can begin investing in prevention, something that private insurers will not do (because they effectively spend money to save money for their competitors). True, that means the government operates the system. But why should they not? Proper health care is a public good, which is the purview of the government.
If forcing someone to "care for a need" is questionable, then why did Christ command us to do so?
Regarding your response to Joel: where did he say that government should force everyone to live an Act 3 life? He said "I don't often live the aforementioned lifestyles, but I'm convicted that Christ did." Sounds to me like he was just answering anonymous's question about the system under which Christ lived.
c hand, thanks for the post.
ReplyDeleteAs a matter of fact, in the 2004 election here in Texas, voters passed a huge tort reform bill that capped claims on malpractice suites in a radical manner.
Since then, more and more Texans have fallen off insurance plans and into the growing population w/o health insurance coverage.
Whatever savings have been achieved have gone to insurance companies and doctors rather than to medical consumers.
Our system is broken unless you have lots of money. It needs to be "faired up" and fast.
Actually, savings have almost exclusively gone on to insurance companies. I have asked several of the doctors that I know, and their premiums continued to rise.
ReplyDeleteThis was yet another piece of legislation that lined the pockets of large corporations.
- JG