The Affordable Care Act

Over at the blog for U.S. Catholic magazine, Scott Alessi has an aptly titled post: As Affordable Care Act rollout continues, we need less rhetoric, more clarity. In additions to providing links for more information, he writes:

Before praising or condemning the ACA based on rhetoric, every American should take the time to try to understand exactly how it will work and what the potential outcomes of the law's implementation will be. While there are certainly still flaws in the law or issues to be worked out, all this arguing about the Affordable Care Act has done nothing to help people actually understand how it works, or how it can benefit them.

The entire post is here.

Health care reform resources

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has a number of Prayer and Liturgy Resources regarding health care reform, available here. One of them is a Prayer for the Uninsured:

Father of goodness and love,
hear our prayers for the uninsured members of our community
and for all who are in need.
For those who seek care but find that it is out of reach,
may they find consolation in your healing presence.
For all who are blessed with health and security,
may they work to fulfill the needs of those who are sick and insecure.

For leaders who make decisions that affect the health and well-being of others,
may they strive to ensure the fundamental right to health care.
We ask this through Christ our Lord
who healed those who believed.

Amen

Illegal immigrants and health care

One of the issues bubbling to the surface in the health care debate is the question of providing care for illegal aliens. A group of religious conservatives who gathered at the annual Values Voter Summit this month believes that the issue of illegal immigration is the more important issue. As reported by Kevin Eckstrom at Religion News Service:

WASHINGTON -- Health care reform may be Priority No. 1 in Congress and at the White House, but for the 1,825 religious conservatives who gathered here for the annual Values Voter Summit over the weekend, the subject was barely on their radar screen.

"To me, there are so many more important issues than health care right now," said John Leaman, a retired yacht builder from Lancaster, Pa. Added his wife Linda, a waitress: "I don't think it's as urgent as Obama's making it out to be." The real problem, she said, is illegal immigrants "cluttering up our emergency rooms."

Indeed, among the dozen issues that attendees cited in casting their votes in a straw poll for possible 2012 Republican presidential candidates, health care never made the list. The top three issues were abortion, protecting religious liberty and opposing same-sex marriage.

The entire story is here.

Meanwhile, Bishop William F. Murphy of Rockville Centre, N.Y., who chairs the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, believes health reform should include all immigrants, legal or not. As reported by Chaz Muth of Catholic News Service:

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Though Bishop William F. Murphy of Rockville Centre, N.Y., concedes there's no political will in Washington to include illegal immigrants in health care reform, he believes it's the country's moral obligation to ensure that everyone in the nation receives proper medical care.

That includes those who enter the country illegally, he told Catholic News Service in mid-September.

"I agree that there is a special problem with those who have entered here without the permission of the United States, and that has to be looked at," said Bishop Murphy, who chairs the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development. "But that's a problem unto itself."

Most U.S. Catholic bishops who have spoken publicly about health care reform have expressed the opinion that one of the richest countries in the world should find a way to guarantee that everyone within its borders has access to medical care, from conception to natural death.

The rest of that article is here.

Catholics must be heard on healthcare reform

That is the headline of Bishop Howard Hubbard's column in last week's Evangelist. We could not agree more. As the Bishop notes:

The bishops of the United States have advocated on behalf of universal, affordable and accessible health care for decades. We believe that every person created in the image and likeness of God has a basic human right to those things necessary to sustain life.

The fact that more than 46 million Americans lack healthcare insurance is morally unacceptable. Thus, we support healthcare reform that respects the life and dignity of every person from conception until natural death.

That means the unborn, the disabled, the mentally ill, the addicted, the single mother, the preschooler, the cancer sufferer, the person with HIV/AIDS disease, the immigrant, the frail elderly and the dying.

While the bishops of our country have not proposed a specific reform package or taken a position for or against a public sector option, we have articulated some guiding principles.

He lists those principles in his column, here. Bishop Hubbard also addresses the manner in which we conduct this discussion:

That people have a strong interest in this issue and intense feelings about something that potentially would affect every American in some way is understandable.

Indeed, in our pluralistic democracy, it is imperative that there be extensive consultation and vigorous debate about such a vital concern.

However, what has been disturbing about many of the town hall meetings and other forums for comment is the intemperate rhetoric and threatening behavior which seemed omnipresent.

The shouting over others, the disruptive tactics and the deliberate misrepresentation of opposing perspectives that have been all too frequent are unacceptable in a society committed to mutual respect, tolerance and civil discourse.

It is imperative, then, as the healthcare debate unfolds in Congress, the media, the internet and other public forums that we seek to address this issue in a dignified way that relies on facts, rational analysis and persuasion, not manipulative distortions, fear and intimidation.

These are good principles that we not only should follow ourselves, but share with others.

Money-driven Medicine

This week on Bill Moyers Journal (airing locally at 9 p.m. Friday on WMHT-TV, Channel 17):

Produced by Academy Award winner Alex Gibney (Taxi to the Dark Side, Enron: the Smartest Guys in the Room) and based on Maggie Mahar's acclaimed book of the same name, Money-driven Medicine reveals how a profit-hungry "medical-industrial complex" has turned health care into a system where millions are squandered on unnecessary tests, unproven and sometimes unwanted procedures, and overpriced prescription drugs.

As Ms. Mahar notes:

“A physician takes an oath to put his patient's interests ahead of his own. A corporation is legally bound to put its shareholders' interests first. And this is part of the inherent conflict between health care as a business, part of our economy, and health care as a public good and part of our society. Health care has become a growth industry. That means higher health care bills. That means more and more middle-class people cannot afford health care in this country.”

You can learn more here.

Health Care Reform

With 624 Catholic hospitals and 499 Catholic long-term care nursing facilities in the United States (not to mention those 2,000 years of, well, being Church), the Catholic Church is well situated to offer advice on health care reform. Among the goals of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops:

* a truly universal health policy with respect for human life and dignity;
* access for all with a special concern for the poor and inclusion of legal immigrants;
* pursuing the common good and preserving pluralism including freedom of conscience and variety of options; and
* restraining costs and applying them equitably across the spectrum of payers.

The bishops have a website dedicated to the issues we face in this important matter. You can access it here.