Op-Ed on Healthcare

I have recently worked with Sojourners to submit the following editorial to several important newspapers (see the list at the bottom). Whether or not they will publish it is to be decided, but here is a peek of what I've submitted for my blog readers to enjoy!

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Despite what many may say, reforming our broken healthcare system is a moral issue. It is an outrage that nearly 12% of Indiana residents live without health insurance. Over 744,000 residents of our state are currently uninsured – that is almost the size of Indianapolis! By next year, in the richest nation to ever exist in the history of the world, fifty-two million Americans will not have health coverage.

Some have tried to say that the faith community should stay silent, clergy should stick to spiritual matters – but for me, it is immoral to stay silent.

As a minister, I believe this debate is much more personal than statistics about the uninsured. Statistics fail to tell the heartbreaking human story of suffering that I witness in my church every day. A report can’t reveal the anguish of a mother unable to afford a doctor’s visit for a sick child, or the pain of a husband ignoring a debilitating injury because missing work means losing his job, or the woman who spoke to me recently about her treatable form of cancer which is going untreated due to its unaffordable cost.

While the Bible does not outline specific public policies around the provision of health care, it does make it clear that protecting the health of each human being is a profoundly important personal and communal responsibility for people of faith. Throughout the Bible, God shows a special concern for the vulnerable and sick and acts to lift them up.

The Bible also teaches that society organize in such a way that all have genuine access to the resources needed to live a dignified life, as well as provide for those who are unable to care for themselves.

The Hebrew prophets consistently say that the measure of a nation’s righteousness and integrity is how it treats the most vulnerable. And Jesus says the nations will be judged by how they treat “the least of these” (Matthew 25:31-45).
While all people of faith will never agree on every aspect of health-care reform, there is an overall agreement on a few key principles.

1. Health, not sickness, is the will of God. We can see this from the story of the garden, in Genesis, where sickness never was, and from the vision of a city, in Revelation, in which death will be no more. When we are instruments of bringing about that good health, we are doing the work of God.

2. United we stand, divided we fall. The division between those who can afford adequate coverage and those who cannot is a threat to our unity and a threat to the health of our neighbors and our nation. 46 million in our country are uninsured and millions more who are, still can't keep up with their bills. The common good requires a system that is accessible to all who need it.

3. Patients not profits. No one should be discriminated against in their health care because they are sick. Our faith mandates that we give extra consideration and help to those who are sick, but every time an insurance company denies coverage for "pre-existing conditions," excluded ailments, or confusing fine print, their profits go up. Every doctor I know decided to pursue medicine to help people. The health insurance industry makes a profit by not helping, but our faith requires it.

4. Life and liberty must both be protected. The health-care system should protect the sanctity and dignity of life in accordance with existing law and the current rules; and the prohibition on federal funding of abortions should be consistently and diligently applied to any legislation. Strong "conscience" protections should be enacted for health-care workers to ensure they have the liberty to exercise their moral and religious beliefs in their profession. Evidence suggests that supporting low-income and pregnant women with adequate health care increases the number of women who chose to carry their child to term, so if we do reform right, we can reduce abortion in America.

5. For the next generation, health care reform should be based on firm financial foundations. Health care is a vital and wise investment for the future of our families and society. But, the way we pay for it should be fair and equitable and seek to lessen the burden on succeeding generations--both in bringing everyone into the system and by bringing the costs of health care under control over time. Our religious traditions suggest that social justice and fiscal responsibility must not be pitted against each other, but balanced together in sound public policy that is affordable for individuals and for society.

We need bold actions, political will and the moral urgency to pass comprehensive health care reform now. The guardians of the status quo will surely make this a tough fight. But inspired by faith and hope, together we can make whole that which is broken. The spirit of change is on the move.

Grace and Peace,
Greg Coates

Pastor, First Free Methodist Church of Indianapolis

This has been submitted to the following papers: Indianapolis Star, Herald-Times (Bloomington), Journal & Courier (Lafayette), The Star-Press (Muncie), The Courier-Journal (Louisville), Tribune-Star, Hoy, Daily Journal, Herald-Bulletin, Daily Ledger (Noblesville), USA Today, The Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, South Bend Tribune, Chicago Tribune, Kalamazoo Gazette, Chicago Sun-Times, Post-Tribune, The Journal Gazette, Elkhart Truth, The Herald-Palladium, Goshen News, Evansville Courier & Press, Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer, The Gleaner, Vincennes Sun-Commercial