There are 50 million people in this country without healthcare insurance. Most simply cannot afford it. When the need for healthcare arises (It will for for all of us) the costs are astronomical. Basic, affordable health insurance can solve many of these problems because the problems can and will be found before they go too far.
A thoughtful and insightful article in the New Yorker by Atul Gwande points out the three types of arguments being thrown in the path of Obamacare. Reactionary arguments take three basic forms. They are perversity, futility, and jeopardy.
The perversity argumnent is that the change will not only fail but, make the problem worse. The futility argument is that the change will not be meaningful. The jeopardy argument is that the healthcare law will result in unacceptable cost on our society. Part of this argument is the desire to exclude the "others." Healthcare is for the deserving. The deserving is narrowly defined. Gwande writes, "During the nineteenth century, for instance, most American leaders believed in a right to vote—but not in extending it to women and black people. Likewise, most American leaders, regardless of their politics, believe that people’s health-care needs should be met; they’ve sought to insure that soldiers, the elderly, the disabled, and children, not to mention themselves, have access to good care. But many draw their circle of concern narrowly; they continue to resist the idea that people without adequate insurance are anything like these deserving others."
Read more http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/comment/2012/06/something-wicked-this-way-comes.html#ixzz1zQXaPulc
There's a moral imperative to caring about the fate of those who are less fortunate. It is key to the Christian Faith that we care for one another. It's the second half of the two great commandments given by Christ found in Mark Chapter 12. “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.[a] 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’[b] 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[c] There is no commandment greater than these.”
I once had sin described to me as seeing someone in need and turning away...not doing anything about it when I could. We're in a position to do something about it now. Playing politics at the expense of 50 million people would be more than a shame. It would be a sin.
It seems to me that people against Obamacare are not thinking with their brains, they are thinking with their politics.
ReplyDeleteThe arguments I've heard are along the lines of "big brother" telling citizens what they must do - taking power away from states, and forcing something upon people who may not want it.
Do the people against healthcare for all citizens have health coverage for themselves? Certainly Congress is covered by the best possible health insurance. So they are fighting a political battle (not a human one) because they don't want the Federal government to take on the complexities of healthcare - and it will be too expensive. Those of us with a health plan are already paying the medical bills for those without one. Hospital costs, laboratory testing, everything contributes to our rising premiums. We, the insured, end up covering the costs.
So here's the challenge. If you refuse to pay into the healthcare system, stomp your feet and say that no one can make you buy insurance if you don't want to - the next time you get sick, or are in an accident, STAY HOME. Do not go to a doctor, the emergency room or anywhere to get a remedy for what ails you. I don't want to pay for your healthcare. And I believe that I should have the right to refuse.