Comments on: What Would Jesus Do? Compassion in Conflict

By: Steve Billingsley

Steve Billingsley — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 17:12:09 +0000

Not exactly true. Medicare Advantage, the expansion of HSAs and SCHIP all happened in the Bush administration. Could they have done more? Absolutely.

I don’t think Obamacare is really about expanding coverage to those who don’t have coverage. I think it is much more about extending government’s role in the adminstration of health care in the U.S. If this was about expanding coverage primarily then why does the large majority of the expansion that does take place in this bill not begin until 2014?

If this was just about expanding coverage, the provision of catastrophic health care to those without coverage with high deductibles and a mechanism to subsidize HSAs to help with these deductibles could have happened at a much lower cost and with much less government control. The absence of any meaningful tort reform and portability in this bill (which would lower costs and help people to obtain health insurance) also speak to this point.

By: Ken

Ken — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 01:39:36 +0000

Many people who don’t have insurance don’t go to the doctor until they have an emergency, by which time much damage may be done. Others, like my own sister, who has worked all her life, rack up huge bills when they need operations. The Republicans were in power for eight years and never even broached the idea of helping these people. It’s a little rich of them to complain now about Obama’s attempt.

By: Anthony Mator

Anthony Mator — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 21:42:26 +0000

The sick in our country do receive care. Even illegal immigrants receive care. To suggest that this is a question of care vs. non-care is to misstate the issue, because the majority of Americans do get care when they really need it. The question we are really asking is how make that care the most affordable and accessible and of the highest quality to patients. Does this require universal health insurance? Some believe so. But that is hardly the only option, and may even be a very bad option, depending on how said insurance is instituted.

By: Ken

Ken — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 16:30:51 +0000

Thanks for the thoughtful post, Sarah. I’m one liberal who doesn’t think anyone has a right to health care. I just think that the right thing for a rich country to do is to provide it. Christ told us to care for the sick, and we simply haven’t been caring for many of them. So I view providing health care as an act of obedience.

The dignity of an individual is infringed upon when, in the name of compassion, someone profits from exploiting what others lack.

I’m not sure how this is an argument against health care. If anything, it’s an argument against health insurance companies and for a public option.

None of us can know for sure what Jesus would say, he’d probably call us all out as fools.

Amen to that!