Wednesday, June 20, 2007
AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE
A story that is close to my heart:javascript:void(0)
Publish Post
CHICAGO, Ill. (Catholic Online) – The United States has a moral obligation to ensure that no one goes without adequate and affordable health care, according to a draft Catholic health ministry document.
The Catholic Health Association of the United States (CHA) released its first draft of its working document, “Our Vision for U.S. Health Care,” June 18 on the second of the three-day 92nd Catholic Health Assembly at the Marriott Magnificent Mile here in an effort “to contribute to the national dialogue on health-care reform and transformation.
The principles outlined in the document are being made available for comments from Catholic health-care leaders, caregivers, administrators and other professionals, whose input will shape the final document to be released later this year.
Pointing to health care as a topic that “will only continue to intensify as a top-tier issue” as the United States moves toward another national election cycle, the association said that there is “support and enthusiasm” for major health-care change.
“In all of the world’s major industrialized countries, except the United States, everyone is guaranteed access to health care,” the document says. “With its plentiful resources and optimistic spirit, this nation can certainly do the same.”
The CHA noted in the document that the crisis in health care can be seen by issues, including:
- 46 million Americans lack health insurance coverage of any kind.
- About 9 million children are uninsured.
- Eight in 10 of those who cannot afford health coverage are in working families.
- The percentage of employer-sponsored health insurance coverage has dropped from 69 percent in 2000 to 60 percent in 2005.
- Some 18,000 each year (about 49 each day) die because they do not have health insurance.
Read the rest...
One thing I would ask...why has the Church not stepped into this gap and attempted to provide health care insurance to Catholics at a rate that does not include built-in profits for stockholders?
It makes less sense than it ever did to me, now that I'm battling cancer, to tie healthcare to jobs. When a person is sick, they may not be able to go to work every day. If the entire family depends on the insurance provided by the father's job, and the father is too sick to work, the entire family is in jeopardy of losing their healthcare.
