My 2 Cents on Healthcare

The hot topic recently in politics has been the question of universal healthcare. I thought I would take a brief moment to offer some of my own reflections on the issue.

THE LEAST WORST OPTION. I stand with many other Americans in their distrust of big government. I am concerned about the ever growing budget deficit and think we need some fiscal responsibility. However, we need to look at our options. The status quo is obviously not satisfactory with 46 million Americans currently uninsured. This includes many who have worked hard, paid into the system for years, lived honest lives, but have been laid off because of the recession. At the risk of oversimplification, I see two main options: 1) the continuing privatization of health care or 2) government-run healthcare. The former option leaves people's health decisions in the hands of CEOs and boards which ultimately only answer to their shareholders. Their primary concern is to increase profit margins and if they have to engage in practices such as denying coverage to someone with a pre-existing condition or utilizing recision, then they will do so. In my opinion, I would rather have elected officials who have been chosen by the public to look after the common good oversee healthcare rather than these CEOs from the corporate world. So although government-run healthcare may not be a great option, it is the least worst option.

THIS IS A MORAL ISSUE. When I met the middle aged woman on Monday morning who came to me and asked for prayer, I had no idea what a fire she would ignite in my heart for this debate. She looked me in the eye and told me that she was dying from a treatable form of cancer. However, she could not afford the medications or chemotherapy. So she wasted away day by day praying for a miracle or for a rich philanthropist who would intervene on her behalf. Looking into her eyes, I realized that healthcare is a moral issue -- it is not simply a cold economic calculus of supply and demand, guided by the invisible hand of the free market. To watch a woman die young because her nation refused to treat her is a tragedy that we might expect to happen in Niger or Congo, but not in the riches nation on earth. As we read the story of the good Samaritan, we are left with no doubt that a nation which leaves millions of sick people stranded on the side of the road with no help stands condemned in the sight of a merciful God. We are morally obligated to care for the poor. If even 1% of our nation was uninsured, it would be too many.

We might do well to think long and hard about this question: "Is it moral to make a profit off of someone's basic healthcare?"

IS UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE UN-AMERICAN? Interestingly many have argued that a "socialized" form of medicine is un-American and betrays our sacred ideals of rugged individualism, entrepreneurship, and total economic freedom. Well, I have several responses. First, is the idea that we care for our marginalized un-American? What about looking out for the common welfare (after all, we do ensure that every American can get a free education)? Is it un-American for us to create a system in which middle aged women don't have to die a death that could have been prevented? If the answer to these questions is "yes," then go ahead and call me un-American. I'd rather be labeled un-American than indifferent to those in need. Perhaps completely economic liberty is not the highest good. The Bible certainly seems to challenge such an assumption.

HEALTHCARE IS A RIGHT, NOT A PRIVILEGE. As our system currently stands, the wealthy of America have the best healthcare in the world. They can demand all the treatments no matter how crackpot they may be (provided that they can shell out the cash). The poor, on the other hand, get screwed. In other words, a young woman's right to life is dependent upon what class she is born into. If she's born into wealth, she has no worries; if poverty, then she may fall through the cracks like so many others have done. But I believe that the right to see a doctor and receive minimal medication and care ought not to be a privilege of the wealthy. Instead, it should be available to all regardless of economic standing. Think of the absurdity that we mandate the government to provide a school and education for all children, but don't guarantee that they can be made healthy enough to attend that school. Which is a more basic human right? I would argue that physical health is even more foundational than education. But currently we provide one and not the other.