Healthcare Crisis

There's a crime being committed in this country every day and we are subsidising it--and it's being perpetrated by the insurance companies and the politicians who work for them. 48 million Americans are uninsured or under-insured; many of them children. And many, if not most of them are working men and women whose wages won't support the cost of health insurance and whose companies either can't or won't provide it. Fortunately, our president vetoed the SCHIP bill (which passed with great bipartisan support) which would have at least provided some coverage for most of the kids who are on the outs. And that crap that he said about Medicaid providing the coverage they need is a lie straight from hell--and the sad thing is that he may be too thick to even know it's a lie.

With nearly a trillion dollars being spent on health care, there is a huge incentive for the insurance companies to want to maintain the status quo--which is, basically, pay through the nose to purchase a product that they will ultimately try to withhold from you at their whim. Here's something encouraging though; of every premium dollar paid to the insurance companies, at least 15% is spent on overhead and administrative costs--and that's only indicative of the best of them. It's more likely to be in the 20% to 30% range for most of the companies.

There is a solution that will allow every single person in this country to be covered for less money than is being spent now to cover 83% of us: HB 676. Check it out at Healthcare-Now.org. Also check out the Sojourners website at sojo.com to see what they have to say about the proposed bill. If you believe that we are truly supposed to care for "the least of these" (Jesus said that, Christians); if you believe that we've been lied to for long enough; if you believe that corporate greed must become a thing of the past; if you're tired of corporate bigwigs, lobbyists, special interest groups, political action committees and others who are only interested in themselves running this country instead of the people who live in it then educate yourself and do something about it. Write, email and call your representatives and tell them you demand to be heard over the voices of the rich. Check out the websites and check out the bill. Here's something else we as Christians need to think about: in addition to the fact that the Republican president vetoed the children's health care extension which was supported by his party, there is not one single Republican signed on to cosponsor HB 676. Where are their priorities--where are ours?

Seek God; pray for justice.
Mike