As the debate over national health care reform heats up, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has launched a new Web site explaining its position on the issues. The Catholic Church has long advocated universal health care coverage.The full endorsement for comprehensive reform linked to on the site was actually written in 1993 and makes reference to the Clinton administration. The Church's endorsement straddles Republican and Democratic party lines with both a strong stand for universal care and adamant opposition to any fom of government funding for abortion — an issue that continues to be disputed in different congressional proposals for health reform.
In our Catholic tradition, health care is a basic human right. Access to health care should not depend on where a person works, how much a family earns, or where a person lives. Instead, every person, created in the image and likeness of God, has a right to life and to those things necessary to sustain life, including affordable, quality health care. This teaching is rooted in the biblical call to heal the sick and to serve "the least of these," our concern for human life and dignity, and the principle of the common good. Unfortunately, tens of millions of Americans do not have health insurance. According to the Catholic bishops of the United States, the current health care system is in need of fundamental reform.
... written by Chiefpeted , August 24, 2009 - 06:25 pm
The Catholic Church worldwide has the largest art collection in the world. Why not sell a few pictures from the Vatican and start a Catholic form of health insurance for its members. That way they could pay for the services. Everybody talks about health insurance being a right, but if you can work, and don't, then I think you don't have that right. Somebody has to pay for insurance, and since I am already paying for mine, I can't afford anyone elses. I don't have a forture in art like the Vatican. So, put your money where your mouth is.
... written by Radio Controlled , August 24, 2009 - 06:57 pm
The good news is that, according to the Obama administration, the rich will pay for everything. The bad news is that, according to the Obama administration, you're rich. Apparently, the Pope does too.
... written by Helene , August 25, 2009 - 01:52 am
Everyone in the US has access to health care if they wait til they are sick enough to need the ER. They get served for free and are subsidized by Chiefpeted and everyone else with insurance. An estimated $1000 of the insurance premium for a family of 4 goes to cover care given to uninsured people. We ALL lose under the current system and the problem is getting worse. IF we extend health insurance to those 46 million currently uninsured, they will have access to preventive medical care and early stage treatments through medical facilities -- much cheaper than ER care for crisis conditions. Because of the high premiums, many employers do not offer health care insurance so there are working people without insurance as well. But I am right there with you on the Vatican Art.
... written by Stu , August 25, 2009 - 02:06 pm
On a similar note, why doesn't the US sell off what is in the Smithsonian to help close the budget defecit? Also, in the age of Xerox we don't exactly need original copies of the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, or the Constitution, and I'd bet they would fetch a pretty fair price.
... written by nolaf , August 25, 2009 - 05:16 pm
Chiefpeted - Thanks to Helene for making an OBVIOUS point that you did not consider. I know a number of people who WORK full-time with no insurance. They work for small businesses that are not required to make insurance available and, often, can't make it available because it's too expensive. The discussion has begun..........something needs to change.
... written by Radio Controlled , August 25, 2009 - 06:36 pm
"the Constitution, and I'd bet...would fetch a pretty fair price."
Might as well, the Constitution does mean much to Obama anyway.
... written by Jason D. Faulk , August 25, 2009 - 07:49 pm
Selling one's cultural assets for a one time cash infusion is a serious squandering of the public commons. Bear with me for a moment while I highlight the financial aspects of this in jargon, but selling some piece of the public commons, whether it be art, documents, monuments, highways, or the utility companies, would be akin to Lafayette selling LUS to a private, non-publicly traded private equity firm, which to finance said purchase, the P.E.F. would borrow the money to acquire LUS by issuing corporate bonds against the company it is buying, thereby raising the rates to pay for the financing costs of the takeover, effectively charging the seller to sell itself.
TXU Energy in Texas did this recently, as have others. One may recall the sale of the old NOPSI (aka Entergy New Orleans.) I suggest that this is not a sustainable proposition, and that is one which more likely than not, harms the quality of life than it would benefit.
Nonetheless, on the subject of this healthcare discussion, I would strongly encourage every reader to go to the PBS Frontline website and watch the segment "SICK AROUND THE WORLD" produced by T.R. Reid. He clearly highlights the various systems in use by the 40 or so "advanced" countries such as ours.
Ours is the only country that allows profit to be made on the insuring of basic health coverage. Our overhead for medical office and insurance adminstrative expenses is roughly 18% according to his interview with Teri Gross that aired on FreshAir on yesterday, August 24, 2009. Germany by comparison expends 5%. France expends 4%. Neither of these countries has socialized medicine. There doctors are paid within 3 days. If the insurance company fails to pay the doctor, your premium for the month is refunded. You can leave one insurer and go to another at any time without penalty or premium increase. Insurers make their money by keeping your business, for life insurance and fire insurance. Furthermore, because the American average length of underwriting health insurance policies last 5-6 years (vs. mandatory acceptance in Germany), the insurers have an incentive to deny coverage and preventative treatment in the short term, as the policy holders won't be with them for a lifetime, as Reid indicates in the radio interview I am citing here. However, when truer cost preventing measures are pondered over the long haul, an incentive is in place that encourages payment for precautionary and preventative lifestyle counseling and medical treatment.
I firmly believe many of us are afraid more so of the unknown, as compared to the system we know, but sometimes loathe.
Please link to the following for a more complete information.
Frontline - Sick around the world. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sickaroundtheworld/
... written by $1,000 to get tested for swine flu , August 26, 2009 - 03:26 am
that's how much the two bills cost me when I went to LGMC to simply get tested for the swine flu a few months back. I am self-employed and do not have insurance. It's the first time in my life I went to ER to be tested, as it was a weekend and Day 3 of the symptoms. $1,000 could have covered several months of at least catastrophic coverage if the self-employed like me had real options.
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