Health care reform a moral issue

What’s going on with health care reform and why should we care? Recently the Rev. Philip Keane – author, professor of moral theology and health care ethics consultant – visited Blessed Sacrament Church in Johnson City and First United Methodist Church in Endicott, addressing the issue of health care as a moral imperative. His presentation was sponsored by People of Faith for Health Care Reform and his information was so vital I felt it needed to be heard by more than those of us who were able to attend.

Following is a small portion of what he shared with us. His three themes were:

* Social Justice: Justice has to do with the obligation of society to make sure human goods are available to all people.

* Human Rights: Health care and access to it is a human right.

* Common Good: We need to move away from the rugged individualism we now embrace to the theology of the Common Good. Everyone should have an interest in everyone else, even stretching it to a global perspective.

He related the latest statistics on health care in the U.S. There are about 300 million people in this country. An estimated 46 million are uninsured, and 30 million to 35 million will probably lose health care over the next couple of years. Thirty million are underinsured. We have 75 million on Medicare. Adding those figures gives us close to 50 percent under 65 in a health care crisis – first being those in their 20s just off their parents’ policies, second are children of single mothers (even with the Children’s Health Insurance Program, CHIP, the numbers are still larger than 10 years ago) and third, those between 55 and 64 waiting for Medicare to kick in.

We have three possibilities for reform: The U.S. can go into the health care business (socialized medicine), have private reform with governmental regulation or government becomes the insurer but the delivery is in private hands (Medicare type). Currently, President Obama would like a combination of two and three.

Access to a decent level of health care is a moral issue, even a religious one. To be effective, we must keep ourselves educated and informed. We must speak our truths quietly and clearly, and we must be the voice for those who cannot speak for themselves. We must know where our information is coming from and double-check its veracity at Web sites such as www.factcheck.org or www.mediamatters.org.

We should call our federal representatives to add our voices and our stories to the conversation. For action steps, visit www.faithfulreform.org to find an analysis of the bill that was just passed in the House;www.hcan.org or www.citizenactionny.org. For those without computer access, contact the Justice and Peace Resource Center (607) 729-9166 or Citizen Action at (607) 723-0110.

Become a part of the change you wish to see.

Amy Fleming is a resident of Vestal.