h/t nirbao

As funny as it is to hear folks shouting "Keep your government hands off my Medicare!", I shake my head at those who scream that we’ll end up with rationing health care if the government gets involved. Huh? Haven’t they heard that rationing is the business model that keeps the insurance companies happy?

Don’t believe me? Ask your local neighborhood member of the clergy. Chances are they will tell you stories like these:

We visit our shut in members, and see the bottles of prescriptions on the countertop. "Let me tell you about these," says the shut-in. "This one is for A, that one is for B, and this one . . . well, it’s supposed to be for C, but the insurance company wouldn’t let the doctor prescribe the drug SHE thought best. ‘It’s not on our list,’ they told her. So I’m taking this one, but it doesn’t seem to be working as well as it should. Maybe it works for others, but not me — but try telling the insurance company that . . ."

We hear that a member of the congregation is going to have surgery, and ask for details so we can visit them or be with family during the operation. "Well, pastor, we’re still not sure. The doctors want to do this one procedure, but the insurance company thinks that it’s too experimental and wants them to do something else. My primary care doctor wants to send me hospital A so this one particular surgeon can do it (once they figure out what "it" is), but the insurance company wants me to go to hospital B — and the surgeon my doc wants to send me to doesn’t have privileges there. . ."

We visit members who are in the hospital, and ask how long the doctor thinks they will be there. "He’d like me to stay another two days or maybe three, but the insurance company wants me out tomorrow. Don’t get me wrong — I really want to go home — but if my doctor wants me to stay, I’ll do what he says. Anyway, he and the bean counters are still arguing about it . . "

We visit with couples where one has a terminal illness, and more and more often, the conversation is turning to not just the emotional costs of the impending death, but the financial cost to the survivors. One of those who was ill once told me, "Pastor, I know I’m that when I die I’m going to leave my partner, but I don’t want to leave my partner broke as well. I thought I had decent insurance, but now that I need it, it isn’t really there."

Health care reform can’t wait.

If you’re a member of the clergy, talk to your parishioners and talk to your members of Congress. Lots of churchbodies have formal social statements on health care like this one from my denomination (ELCA), and there’s no time like the present for using denominational resources to help educate your congregation to the issues. As the introduction to that ELCA social statement says,

Health is central to our well-being, vital to relationships, and helps us live out our vocations in family, work, and community. Caring for one’s own health is a matter of human necessity and good stewardship. Caring for the health of others expresses both love for our neighbors and responsibility for a just society. As a personal and social responsibility, health care is a shared endeavor.

If you’re a member of a faith community, ask your community’s leaders to speak out and get involved. Often, clergypeople hold back on talking about potentially controversial issues, for fear of being accused of imposing their own agenda. But if members push for the leader to step up, it becomes an action of the community and not that of a pushy leader.

And if you’re a member of Congress reading this, go talk to your local clergy. They’ll give you a clearer picture on the need for reform than any lobbyist ever would, without all the spin.