Since I changed blogs over I have been attempting to avoid most political talk, but I feel that this is a topic that has an immense spiritual influence. Health-care reform has been something talked about for a long time, but it has not been until recently that large changes have been seriously considered. I have found myself in a few discussions about these changes and it has been interesting to hear the different viewpoints that make up ones opinion about how to go about reforming it. One positive note that has really struck a chord with Christians has been the word compassion. Christ makes it clear to us that we need to provide for the poor (James 2:14), it is our job to give sacrificially to others with a compassionate heart so that they may see the love of Christ through it. So would it be safe to say that passing a national plan to cover those who cannot afford health insurance, with the money of the ones who can, be... I don't know... God's plan? My knee jerk reaction would therefor be yes, but as I look deeper this may not be so. While you look at Christ's witness here on earth, he asked the rich to provide for the poor, but also allowed them to make the decision. When you allow law to force compassion, is it still compassion?
Now you may be saying, "Even if it is forcefully brought, aren't people still being taken care of? Isn't it still better?". To some extent this may be true on the surface but as you look deeper it may not be that easy. We, as a culture of consumerism, love to buy new things. As a justification of that, we donate our old clothes and such to organizations that distribute them all over the world. At first glance this appears to be compassionate right? Well After a discussion with missionaries in some of the other countries, we may not be helping as much as we thought. One of the way's missionaries try and help areas they are working in, is to help make it possible for the people to build businesses. While a donation of used clothes may seem like a good idea to us, it becomes a detriment to small businesses in other countries trying to boost their economic opportunities. Fighting in a market with someone that gives things away for free may prove more problematic than it's worth. Now I am not saying to stop donating clothes to people in need, but I am saying that we may not always be helping out as much as our intention may think. The emotion of compassion may not always actually be compassion, it is the actual act that defines it.
The government has amongst it many programs that are compassion based, but may not be as helpful to people as we think. Programs that are set up and forgotten about with a "So that's fixed" attitude that never really fixes anything. Stereotypical government mismanagement of the peoples finances that only depends on who can obtain the most political leverage. There is not one program that is not hemorrhaging money uncontrollably while helping almost no one. Why would we think that they would treat health-care any different? People making the decisions of your health with the compassion of the IRS? We do not have a health-care problem, our health-care blows away any other country, we have a health-care COST problem. People fly from all over the world to be treated by our doctors (yes even from Europe and Canada) because it takes a waiting period of sometimes 8 months to get simple tests done with theirs. We need to focus less on changing it's foundation, and more on lowering it's cost. It is simple numbers, how do you give better health-care, to more people, for the same to less money? It just wont happen.
I know this is a long boring blog but if you have made it this far I thank you. I have really been nothing but negative and critical without giving any solutions up to this point. The problem is, I don't really have all the solutions. We could maybe start with capping the gain off of frivolous lawsuits to help bring down doctors insurance premiums, and/or give insurance companies incentives to create a low cost policy that allows people to pay what they can afford (after submitting the proper financial statements) and having the government pick up the remainder. Maybe even having a higher deductible so people think twice before just getting work or tests done. When God blesses us, he does not just give us something because we need it. He asks us to go as far as we can and he will carry us the rest of the way. It is for us to grow stronger and learn along that way. Once we take away personal responsibility we incapacitate our ability learn from our mistakes and become a stronger, more responsible person. I would suggest trying to implement these kinds of ideas with the social program being the last resort. We have come no where near close to fixing this before destroying it, and we do it how? in the name of compassion? this is not compassion... feedback?
Grace be with you
