Bishops Want Health-Care Reform

By: Thomas Reese

September 8, 2009

In the Gospels, Jesus spends much of his time trying to teach us that God loves us and that the proper response to this love is to love God and our neighbors. He did this trough his preaching but also through his miracles, the most common of which was healing the sick.

Ever since, Catholics and other Christians have responded to the Gospels with a special concern for the sick. Today, 624 Catholic hospitals provide care to millions of sick and dying people in the United States.

Because of the Gospels and because of their experience caring for the sick and dying, the Catholic community has something important to say about health care reform. But if you only listen to the media, you would think that the only health care issue of concern to the bishops is abortion.

The Catholic bishops in their 2007 "Faithful Citizenship" statement, called "for greater assistance for those who are sick and dying, through health care for all and effective and compassionate palliative care." They argue that "Affordable and accessible health care is an essential safeguard of human life and a fundamental human right." The bishops are appalled that more than 46 million people do not have health insurance.

As the U.S. bishops' website says:

"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."

In their 1993 statement "A Framework for Comprehensive Health Care Reform: Protecting Human Life, Promoting Human Dignity, Pursuing the Common Good" they noted that "For three quarters of a century, the Catholic bishops of the United States have called for national action to assure decent health care for all Americans."

In their 1993 statement, the bishops laid out eight criteria for evaluating health care reform that are still valid:

  • Respect for Life. Whether it preserves and enhances the sanctity and dignity of human life from conception to natural death.
  • Priority Concern for the Poor. Whether it gives special priority to meeting the most pressing health care needs of the poor and underserved, ensuring that they receive quality health services.
  • Universal Access. Whether it provides ready universal access to comprehensive health care for every person living in the United States.
  • Comprehensive Benefits. Whether it provides comprehensive benefits sufficient to maintain and promote good health; to provide preventive care; to treat disease, injury, and disability appropriately; and to care for persons who are chronically ill or dying.
  • Pluralism. Whether it allows and encourages the involvement of the public and private sectors, including the voluntary, religious, and nonprofit sectors, in the delivery of care and services; and whether it ensures respect for religious and ethical values in the delivery of health care for consumers and for individual and institutional providers.
  • Quality. Whether it promotes the development of processes and standards that will help to achieve quality and equity in health services, in the training of providers, and in the informed participation of consumers in decision making on health care.
  • Cost Containment and Controls. Whether it creates effective cost-containment measures that reduce waste, inefficiency, and unnecessary care; measures that control rising costs of competition, commercialism, and administration; and measures that provide incentives to individuals and providers for effective and economical use of limited resources.
  • Equitable Financing. Whether it assures society's obligation to finance universal access to comprehensive health care in an equitable fashion, based on ability to pay; and whether proposed cost-sharing arrangements are designed to avoid creating barriers to effective care for the poor and vulnerable.

Recent statements would lead one to believe that at least a couple of bishops have forgotten this commitment. It is interesting, that the Catholic bishops in Europe are not opposed to their governments' involvement in financing health care, except where life issues are involved. A government option, a single payer system or even socialized medicine are not bogeymen for Catholic social teaching. Rather the teaching is very pragmatic: How can we care for the millions who are not insured?

In July, Bishop William F. Murphy, chairman of the bishops' Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, wrote every member of Congress and urged affordable health care for all, including immigrants. He was not afraid to be very specific:

"Medicaid cost-sharing protections should be maintained and new coverage options should protect the lowest income enrollees from burdensome cost sharing. We urge Congress to limit premiums or exempt families earning less than 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Level from monthly premiums. We also recommend limiting co-payments and other costs which could discourage needed care. In order to move toward universal coverage, we urge increases in eligibility levels. For example, we urge Congress to maintain at least the proposed minimum national eligibility level for Medicaid at 150 percent and CHIP at 300 percent of the Federal Poverty Level; to ensure comprehensive coverage; and to provide states with the resources to expand coverage."

The bishops do not want an abortion fight in the health care debate. They have said that they will be satisfied with the status quo, which is that no federal dollars can go to paying for an abortion. What they do want is health care for all.

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