Health Coverage

So, I return to my occasional series based on Luba Lukova’s social justice posters (see 12/30 post for brief intro/explanation) with a post on health coverage.

While I am a bit of a policy geek, health policy is not my thing, and I will not pretend to understand all the back-and-forths in this current debate. What I DO know is simple — the number of uninsured or underinsured in this “civilized” nation of ours is unacceptable; the fact that people suffer and/or die from preventable illness is unacceptable; the fact that families are bankrupted by medical bills is unacceptable. We can and must do better!

To say I do not understand all the back-and-forths in this current debate is simply to say this is one of those policy matters that concerns people’s very lives, and so should not be subject to the same political games inherent in lesser matters. It is fair to disagree, but let’s do so civilly and with the goal of coming to some kind of agreement that will better the lives of millions of Americans!

What I found particularly egregious was the first email I received regarding the so-called “death panels.” The email provided no link to verify this outrageous claim, nor even the bill number so the claims could be independently verified. (BTW, the bill is HR 3200, in case you care to look it up at http://thomas.loc.gov and judge for yourself instead of believing the spin of either side.)

Being that “bit of a policy geek,” it seemed pretty clear that no lawmaker was going to write “death panels” into a bill so obviously as was being claimed. For goodness sake, no one running for office can even run afoul of AARP for fear of losing political cache among the all-important (and voting) seniors, so this seemed like a good idea??? Wondering how such an idea was being found plausible enough for a usually sane individual to send me such an email, I looked further into the origins and was incredibly disappointed to find the source to be a widely respected organization among conservative Christians. Disingenuousness is one thing within politics, but I’ve been incredibly disappointed by some of the things stemming from such organizations beginning with the campaign and continuing through the present. It is absolutely appropriate for Christians to have a voice in the public square, but when did the worldly rules of politics trump God’s standards for the way in which such a voice should be expressed? When did it become alright for single-issue politics to stand in the way of a more just system for the most vulnerable among us? We would do well to heed God’s indictment of His people through the prophet Amos, and remember that we are called to a higher standard, and to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God  (Micah 6:8).