Healthcare
Ron Elsdon, Reaching Out Ministry (R.O.M.), Shell
Ridge Community Church
October, 2007
There is a prevalent myth that
our U.S. healthcare system is the best in the world. Unfortunately this myth belies a completely different
reality:
o
U.S. healthcare on a
national level costs about 50%more than in other developed countries at 15% of
gross domestic product. This cost has
been increasing in an unsustainable spiral with healthcare premiums far
outstripping wage increases and inflation every year but one since 1988.
o
This is driven largely
by a highly inefficient infrastructure of healthcare insurance, the size of the
health insurance workforce grew by more than 50% over the last ten years, double
the growth rate of the healthcare workforce in general, and more than four
times the growth rate of the overall U.S. workforce.
o
U.S. healthcare delivery
outcomes are poor in comparison with most other developed countries with infant
mortality the worst of 19 developed countries, and life expectancy well below that
of most other developed countries.
o
Unlike other developed
countries which provide health coverage for all citizens, forty-seven million
people in the U.S. were without health coverage for all of 2006, an increase of
2 million people from the prior year.
Texas was by far the worst State since 24% of people do not have health
insurance. The number of people
without health insurance for at least one month during the year is much
greater, totaling almost 90 million people currently, about one third of our
population, an increase of 17 million people since 1999/2000. California has the highest number of
people without health insurance for part of the year – almost 13 million
people.
o
We are compromising the
health of our next generation as 25 million children (under age 18) have had no
health insurance for at least one month during 2006/2007. Almost 12% of children were without
health insurance for all of 2006 a percentage that increased significantly from
the prior year.
Unlike many social concerns
where it is difficult to see a clear solution to the problem, in the case of
healthcare there is a clear and unambiguous solution – universal
healthcare delivered by a single payer insurance system. It is essential to eliminate the gross
inefficiency inherent in the current system that might be best characterized as
high waste Russian roulette. Indeed as Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor, observed, our
healthcare insurance bureaucracy is unique in that it seeks to avoid sick
people.
In California, Senate Bill
SB-840 provides a strong foundation
for a completely revamped State Healthcare system that gives full healthcare
coverage for all Californians, while achieving efficiencies in costs and
delivery. It will do this by
eliminating the waste and fraud that is inherent in the current inefficient and
ineffective insurance system, while keeping the responsibility for healthcare
delivery with healthcare providers who maintain their independent status.
In summary, we have a broken
healthcare insurance system that is high cost, inefficient and delivers poor
outcomes. We are jeopardizing the
health of our next generation and ignoring the most vulnerable in our
society. We are placing many in
harm's way with inadequate healthcare coverage or the prospect of personal
bankruptcy when facing excessive costs.
There is a proven solution available, true universal healthcare; we have
an ethical and practical obligation to implement this for our generation and
the generations that follow us.
Thank you to the California
Council of Churches for providing this faith-based perspective:
Luke 10:30-34: More information about
universal healthcare in California is available at these websites: OneCareNow.org –
California SB-840 League of Women Voters
http://ca.lwv.org/lwvc/action/healthcare/sb840_qa.html California Council of
Churches
http://www.calchurches.org/publication_pdfs/HealthAccessGuide.pdf
"A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him."