They say you can't put a price on good health, at least I know I couldn't put a price on my own. It's more difficult for me to say whether I can put a price on your good health. I've heard endless loops about the things people disagree about on the new health care law, but there is actually consensus on a few big things: 30 million people that do not currently have health insurance will have health insurance, coverage under Medicare and private insurance improves, and the changes will cost at least $100 billion per year. So it seems to me that the effect of the new health care law is that the health of many people will be improved but it's going to cost a lot of money.
It's a complex issue and I realize that is a rudimentary simplification, but I believe it's true.
The similar simplifications I've heard against this new law are: the new health care law is a violation of American liberties and will bankrupt the United States.
Is the simplified decision, then, how much liberty and money am I willing to give up to improve the health of my brothers and sisters?
I'll admit I've lost my right to go uninsured, but every other liberty I've heard I'm losing has been settled in the US since the 1920's. Other cries of lost liberty I've heard ring hollow to me as accusations of what might happen later or are too wide-ranging and frenzied to take seriously. As for the cost, I agree this is costly. I take the cost seriously and I want accountability. But I also understand that we find the money for what we believe is important (few Americans blink at spending over $600 billion per year on the defense budget).
Wait a moment... See how quickly and easily this can turn into a discussion, a debate, or even a fight over liberty and money?! And as we turn on each other in this debate that has been more bitter than accurate, we leave the sick to the side... The sick. This group that Jesus favored, and that we all eventually join.
With my focus again on compassion, I push past these superficial distinctions I create of wealth and health and Americanism, and I find myself without support for clutching to control and to my wealth. Instead, I am impressed again that EVERY human being is Yahweh’s child and protecting the health of every human being is a profoundly important personal and communal responsibility. This new law is a mere drop in the bucket, an imperfect step toward human equality. We will really have to roll up our sleeves and soften our hearts if the goal is to value and care for every person, if the goal is equal opportunity for health and care for every child in Philadelphia, every senior citizen in Flagstaff, every mother in Los Angeles, every father in Des Moines... and then on to the rest of the world...
