I am a passionate advocate for the poor. Within the church I lead we have people who are unemployed or underemployed. We have some families who live in home less shelters and one faithful volunteer who, until weeks ago, lived in a small tent. I am not lacking in knowledge of or compassion for the poor. Poverty is not simply a lack of money. Wess Stafford of Compassion International describes poverty as “a lack of options.”
It is from that disclaimer, that context, that I struggle with the current debate over what one side calls “needed health care reform” and the other side calls “a socialistic big-government take-over of 16% of the national economy.” Did I mention that I have an inherent distrust of government as a solution to most problems? Did I mention that the bigger the problem, the bigger the mess government generally makes of it?
Let’s start with the statistics being tossed around; those pushing hard for immediate changes in the system toss around numbers like 47 million uninsured. The Congressional Budget Office says the number is closer to “21 million to 31 million, or 9 percent to 13 percent of nonelderly Americans.” In other words, the range of estimates has a spread of 26 million people… more or less. That suggests that nobody knows, by any stretch of the imagination, how many people really lack health insurance, so how can a realistic solution possibly be proposed? It’s difficult to solve a problem that lacks accurate definition. If we take the lowest of those estimates, 21 million, and subtract the illegal alien population estimated by NPR to be 12 million, that leaves 9 million un- or uderinsured people in the U.S. (Speaker of the House Pelosi assures us that illegal aliens will not be covered under the proposed legislation, and she wouldn’t lie, would she?)
In other words, the entire American health care system is under attack because 3.6% (three point six percent!) of people have no coverage. Of those 9 million/3.6% some are young people who have opted to have no health insurance coverage because they are young, healthy and have other financial priorities. We have no accurate statistics of how many fall into that category, but it’s pretty safe to assume we could easily wipe out the “point six” part of the statistic with them, leaving 3% uninsured.
Can we really, seriously, not figure out a less intrusive, less expensive, less revolutionary way to care for 3% of our population? Seriously? How about just adding them to the existing Federal Employees Health Care System which already has an existing structure for delivery and accountability and is often held up as a model of good coverage? It could be initiated in less than 90 days and would leave the existing system intact for those who like their coverage — after all, we are being told we can keep what we are happy with!
And here’s the other, more philosophical issue… if healthcare is a basic human right, and I think that argument can be made with validity, how about food, clothing and shelter? Are those not essential human rights, also? There are arguably more hungry and homeless people than people needing health care.
If you live in a large house that has “extra” rooms, wouldn’t it be fair to spread some of the wealth and move homeless people into those excess rooms? Homelessness abolished! And Americans are, as a group, fat. We consume far too many calories each day. Wouldn’t it be fair for the government to limit our caloric intake — for our own good, and for the common good — so the “excess” food could be equitably distributed to the hungry? Or perhaps we need calorie credits, like carbon credits. For those who eat more than their share, the government could penalize them with calorie credits to feed the hungry. Yeah. Right.
That’s the problem with the camel’s-nose-in-the-tent of government solutions.
I mean no disrespect, Gary. Please help me understand: how is it that you suffer people in your church to live in small tents and homeless shelters? For God’s sake, man, how does this even remotely jibe with the teachings of Jesus?
I would have deleted that if I could.
Wyatt, so you are telling me your church doesn’t look like the real world? You only have middle-class or better folks? Want to hear about the guy in the tent? When he showed up at our church, invited by a young man he met, he was a homeless crystal meth addict. We welcomed him to the church. We’ll call him “John.” John didn’t want to go to a shelter because of zero tolerance drug policies. He lived on the beach, in doorways… wherever. He had a college education and once held a civil service job. Bad choices and a sinful life robbed him of everything. The young man bought him a tent for shelter. Worried about his safety, the young man had him pitch his tent in his parent’s back yard. They fed him and befriended him and he continued to attend church. He started volunteering… helping with set-up, eventually running video camera each service. He was included in the life of the church, while still struggling with his addictions. The young man got him into a residential rehab program, helped him apply for housing, and he was accepted into a clean-and-sober halfway house until he feels confident he can live without that imposed structure. He credits this church with saving his life.The people in the homeless shelter? Again, on their way UP from their previous homelessness, and the church helps them to the extent possible.Perhaps, Wyatt, your church has the resources to lift every person who walks in from poverty, because, perhaps, your church is filled with successful people who have abundant resources. I pray fervently that the Lord will send us a few of those people to provide more resources, so we can assist more people. Until/unless He does, we will continue to muddle through and do what we can with what we have.By the way, during our Compassion Sunday “John” picked up a packet and now sponsors a child through Compassion International.
As I said, Gary, I would have deleted my comment from here if I could. (I did delete it from facebook). After reflecting on it over lunch, I felt that my comments were strident, and perhaps overly judgemental. Will you please forgive me?(As for our local church, it is comprised of mostly poor people.)