Health costs are a very important issue, when folks are impoverished just to stay alive, and when the fruits of a lifetime of labor are wiped out by a couple of years of end-of-life care. I work a second job to provide decent health coverage for my family, and it is exhausting. Even a very good plan still manages to club us with a big bill now and then.
But I am not convinced that a Third-World or dinosaur socialist model will deliver the goods.
Some defenders of this government managed approach say, "Our critics conflate health care with health care insurance. We're only talking about the insurance part." But if that's true, what to make of this nugget in the second-to-last paragraph of the EXPLANATION:
"Hospitals would receive a global budget for operating expenses. Health facilities and expensive equipment purchases would be managed by regional health planning boards."
And the second paragraph of the explanation, by appealing to the lack of care for various demographic groups, leaves the whole resolution open to the fair question, "Well, with total systemic control, how well has the government done with Veterans' and Indian Reservation health care?" (Answer: not so well).
At a calm public meeting in Sioux Falls, South Dakota's Representative Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D) suggested a less ideological approach:
...her assessment of public opinion on health care is that while enthusiasm for a publicly funded insurance option is mixed, there is wide support for Congress to improve access to primary care and preventive care, to cap expenses from catastrophic illness and injury and to make insurance universally available to control costs.
"Even people with insurance want reform," she said. "They're tired of 15 to 30 percent increases" in their health insurance, tied to the cost of uncompensated care for those without health insurance. There may be disagreements on how to structure health care reform, but we have to get it done. It's breaking the country," Herseth Sandlin said of rising costs.
Anyway, read the whole Episcopalian thing. Link takes you to the official denominational text.
Resolution: D048
Title: Adoption of a "Single Payer" Universal Health Care Program
Topic: Health Care
Committee: 09 - National and International Concerns
House of Initial Action: Deputies
Proposer: The Rev. Gary Commins
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Resolved, the House of Bishops concurring, That the 76th Convention of the Episcopal Church urge passage of federal legislation establishing a "single payer" universal health care program which would provide health care coverage for all of the people of the United States; and be it further
Resolved, That the General Convention direct the Office of Government Relations to assess, negotiate, and deliberate the range of proposed federal health care policy options in the effort to reach the goal of universal health care coverage, and to pursue short-term, incremental, innovative, and creative approaches to universal health care until a "single payer" universal health care program is established; and be it further
Resolved, That the Episcopal Church shall work with other people of good will to finally and concretely realize the goal of universal health care coverage; and be it further
Resolved, That church members and the Office of Government Relations communicate the position of the Episcopal Church on this issue to the President and Members of Congress, and advocate passage of legislation consistent with this resolution.
EXPLANATION
The Episcopal Church, along with several other denominations in the National Council of Churches, previously called upon the Congress and the President to ensure universal access to health care for all people in the United States by the end of 2006.
That deadline has now passed, and the situation is worse than ever. More than 47 million people in the U. S. are currently without health insurance, more than 75 million went without for some length of time within the last two years, and millions more have inadequate coverage or are at risk of losing coverage. People of color, immigrants and women are denied care at disproportionate rates, while the elderly and many others must choose between necessities and life sustaining drugs and care. Unorganized workers have either no or inadequate coverage. The Institute of Medicine has found that each year more than 18,000 in the U. S. die because they had no health insurance.
While we in the United States spend more than twice as much of our gross domestic product as other developed nations on health care ($7,129 per capita), we remain the only industrialized country without universal coverage, and the United States performs poorly in comparison on major health indicators such as life expectancy, infant mortality and immunization rates.
Almost one-third (31 percent) of the money spent on health care in the United States goes to administrative costs. Single-payer financing is the best way to recapture this wasted money. The potential savings on paperwork, more than $350 billion per year, are enough to provide comprehensive coverage to everyone without paying any more than we already do.
Under a single-payer system, all Americans would be covered for all medically necessary services, including: doctor, hospital, long-term care, mental health, dental, vision, prescription drug and medical supply costs. Patients would regain free choice of doctor and hospital, and doctors would regain autonomy over patient care.
Physicians would be paid fee-for-service according to a negotiated formulary or receive salary from a hospital or nonprofit HMO / group practice. Hospitals would receive a global budget for operating expenses. Health facilities and expensive equipment purchases would be managed by regional health planning boards.
A single-payer system would be financed by eliminating private insurers and recapturing their administrative waste. Modest new taxes would replace premiums and out-of-pocket payments currently paid by individuals and business. Costs would be controlled through negotiated fees, global budgeting and bulk purchasing.
+++
From here. Now the GLBT are all about single payer health care? Somebody call those Log Cabin Republicans.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Former USC, now NFL Steelers star Troy Polamalu (from USC), on family, football, trying to grow orchids and...ORTHODOXY??? He went to USC, too.
I caught Get Religion's link to this amazing and uplifting human interest piece from Pittsburgh Magazine. Really, go read the whole thing. Football? Yeah, there's some. Family life? Lots. A rags to riches story? Yes. Gardening? Some of that.
But what really leaps out is Polamalu's journey into the ancient depths of Greek Orthodox Christianity. Too many great quotes and insights from which to choose, so I'll just toss one your way:
(Pittsburgh Magazine) Can you give an example of what inspires you?
"There are so many, and I don't mean to imply that everybody needs to live like a monk in order to be saved. For the Greek Orthodox monks, examples would be: they wear beards to cover their face so they're not vain; they don't have mirrors because they don't want to look at themselves from being vain; they wear black because black is humility; they seldom talk because they don't want to be proud or arrogant; they keep their eyes down because they don't want their eyes to wander; they pray constantly.
The struggle between good and evil is very materialized with them. A lot of people have an understanding of this but it's really just an oral proclamation that there is good and evil. To the monks, it's hard as rock. It's something they grasp daily. This is what I see in them and it amazes me: they've taken their struggle so seriously and in turn there's so much grace in it. When you sit down with these monks, so much peace and love exudes from them."
NPA note: Sorry 'bout the shameless USC plugs. Football's on the way...
But what really leaps out is Polamalu's journey into the ancient depths of Greek Orthodox Christianity. Too many great quotes and insights from which to choose, so I'll just toss one your way:
(Pittsburgh Magazine) Can you give an example of what inspires you?
"There are so many, and I don't mean to imply that everybody needs to live like a monk in order to be saved. For the Greek Orthodox monks, examples would be: they wear beards to cover their face so they're not vain; they don't have mirrors because they don't want to look at themselves from being vain; they wear black because black is humility; they seldom talk because they don't want to be proud or arrogant; they keep their eyes down because they don't want their eyes to wander; they pray constantly.
The struggle between good and evil is very materialized with them. A lot of people have an understanding of this but it's really just an oral proclamation that there is good and evil. To the monks, it's hard as rock. It's something they grasp daily. This is what I see in them and it amazes me: they've taken their struggle so seriously and in turn there's so much grace in it. When you sit down with these monks, so much peace and love exudes from them."
NPA note: Sorry 'bout the shameless USC plugs. Football's on the way...
Symbiosis of a sort, I guess
There are just enough Episcopalians left to want it both ways - congregational and hierarchical.
Creedal Christian finds and shares a comment typical of many people in the pews - "If it isn't about my home congregation, it really doesn't matter." Many Episcopalians say, "Who cares if we split from the Anglican Communion or the rest of Christianity for that matter? If it isn't my own home church, what's the diff?" That's a congregational point of view shared by many Protestants around the world.
What makes it bizarre in the case of Episcopalians is that the denominational leadership have been using the term "hierarchical" more and more to describe themselves. In this view, the church is not congregational, but a top-down organization. The "me and my local church" pew sitters are allowing their offerings to go to lawsuits, international travel junkets, political lobbying, formation of a new, multinational "Episcopal Communion" and other means by which the national church bureaucracy takes more and more control of church identity, resources and operation.
David C. Trimble shares a sad story of one diocese where the congregations are little more than ATMs for a Bishop who's always away enhancing his status in the national bureaucracy.
So "congregational" = "Left alone to die in peace" and "hierarchical" = "OK, just remember us in your will."
Creedal Christian finds and shares a comment typical of many people in the pews - "If it isn't about my home congregation, it really doesn't matter." Many Episcopalians say, "Who cares if we split from the Anglican Communion or the rest of Christianity for that matter? If it isn't my own home church, what's the diff?" That's a congregational point of view shared by many Protestants around the world.
What makes it bizarre in the case of Episcopalians is that the denominational leadership have been using the term "hierarchical" more and more to describe themselves. In this view, the church is not congregational, but a top-down organization. The "me and my local church" pew sitters are allowing their offerings to go to lawsuits, international travel junkets, political lobbying, formation of a new, multinational "Episcopal Communion" and other means by which the national church bureaucracy takes more and more control of church identity, resources and operation.
David C. Trimble shares a sad story of one diocese where the congregations are little more than ATMs for a Bishop who's always away enhancing his status in the national bureaucracy.
So "congregational" = "Left alone to die in peace" and "hierarchical" = "OK, just remember us in your will."
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Poll taxes and literacy tests too, perhaps?
The folks in the Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota can nominate candidates other than the official party slate of three. But check out the nominating requirements at Anglicat:"
...must include at least six signatures from each of four regions. The signatures must come from at least three congregations in each region and at least two of the signatures from each region must be Clergy Delegates entitled to vote at Convention."
...must include at least six signatures from each of four regions. The signatures must come from at least three congregations in each region and at least two of the signatures from each region must be Clergy Delegates entitled to vote at Convention."
Monday, August 10, 2009
Yesterday's Sermon at Good Shepherd, Sioux Falls
Yesterday was my last Sunday on vacation. The parish was blessed to have Fr. Warren Shoberg, SSC as celebrant and preacher.
Recently retired from Church of the Holy Apostles across town, Fr. Shoberg is a faithful Anglo Catholic priest. One of the great joys when I first arrived in Sioux Falls was to begin most weekdays with Matins at his chapel. For several months, we were joined by Fr. Ron Hennies and Fr. David Handy (known to the blogosphere as "New Reformation Advocate"). Fr. Ron & his wife moved to New Mexico to be near their grown kids, and he's since become a priest in the Orthodox Church. Fr. David was in Sioux Falls to be with his mother in her last months of this life. He's since gone back East and recently transferred his ministry to the Anglican Church in North America.
Ah, but how rich it was for a little while to have Reformed, Catholic and Orthodox leaning Christians at Common Prayer. (Sorry, no full blown Charismatic, but we preferred grace to tokenism. Fr. Handy did, however, come to Good Shepherd one Sunday and serve with me as we offered laying on of hands and anointing for healing at the altar.) A glimpse of what Anglicanism used to be about before those great spiritual traditions were put aside for the emptiness of Liberal Protestant culture worship.
Fr. Shoberg was kind enough to send yesterday's sermon outline to our parish webmaster, and I share it with you here as well. I was gratified to run into a couple of parishioners at the market later, and hear their thanksgiving for a good message, delivered with depth and warmth.
+++
10 Pentecost (Proper 14B)
Fr. Warren Shoberg
Jesus said: "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry,
and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."
I. A review of this important series of passages in the lectionary.
A. John’s method of relating this episode.
*Feeding the 5,000
*Going to Capernaum
*Questioning by the crowd
*When did you come here?
*You look for me because you had your fill of the loaves.
*Do not work for the food that perishes but that which endures for eternal life.
B. What must we do to perform the works of God?
*Age old question, what must we do to belong?
*Jesus says "You must believe in him whom he has sent.
*What sign are you going to give us? What work are you performing?
*Moses did not give bread from heaven, but the heavenly father did.
*The bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.
*"I am the bread of Life."
C. Today the discourse continues
*Christ pronounces a formula
*The hearers misunderstand
II. Explanations raise new questions sometimes protests.
A. Jesus continues despite the misunderstandings/protests because he must speak the truth.
1. Progression leads to the summit in two weeks when all who hear must choose to follow Christ or leave him.
*"I am the bread that came down from heaven."
*Provokes strong reaction
*We know his father and mother, how can he have come down from heaven?
B. Jesus can be admired and followed because of his works and words.
*To accept him as coming from heaven is a matter of faith.
*Faith does not come from evidence or logical conclusions nor from irresistible force of works and miracles.
*Jesus knows this and continues.
*"No one can come to me unless drawn by the father who sent me."
III. Faith is a gift from the Father.
A. It is not a present received by certain persons and not by others
*It is akin to love.
*To believe and love go hand in hand.
*One is caught or suddenly seized and resists or is incapable of resisting.
*Gift of faith is received from one’s own free will and with thanksgiving.
*To believe is to allow oneself to be drawn by him who alone is infinitely worthy of love.
*"Do not complain among yourselves."
*God cannot coerce one to become attached to him.
B. When we love someone we find it impossible to believe that all do not have the same attraction.
*It is so and nothing we can do or say will change a persons opinion in this regard.
*In spite of all the good things we may say about the loved one, it remains that others must be seized in order to love.
*This is why Christians have no right to despise or judge non-believers but must humbly pray that all humans be drawn to Christ by the Father
*Isaiah 54:13 — "All your sons shall be taught by the Lord, And great shall be the prosperity of your sons."
*Jeremiah 31:33-34 — "But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each man teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."
C. Time is now because Jesus is the Word of God
*No one has seen God except him who came from his side.
*Whoever listens to God receives his Son’s teaching.
*Ultimate fulfillment of faith in God is faith in Christ in the same way as Christ leads to faith in the Father.
*Whoever comes to Jesus and recognizes in him the one sent by the Father, who receives the Word, already has eternal life.
D. Faith is not merely assent to a certain teaching, it is intimate adherence of the whole being to a person.
*It is a vital communion to be understood in the most concrete way.
*It is participation in the life of God – eternal life – assured by a certain food.
*In the desert God gave his children manna which sustained their life during their years of wandering, but was perishable food and those who ate it died.
*Jesus declares that he is the food offered to those who believe in him, a food that does not decay and that really confers eternal life to those who eat it.
*"I am the living bread come down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever."
E. Our faith in Jesus is shown in many ways
*In the way we worship
*In the way we care for others
*In the way we grow in our faith
F. Paul reminds us today that we are sealed by the Holy Spirit.
*We are God’s beloved children.
*We are to put away bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander.
*We are to be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another.
*We are to live in love as Christ loved us.
The risen Christ is the bread that every day restores our strength to get up and get going. Amen
Recently retired from Church of the Holy Apostles across town, Fr. Shoberg is a faithful Anglo Catholic priest. One of the great joys when I first arrived in Sioux Falls was to begin most weekdays with Matins at his chapel. For several months, we were joined by Fr. Ron Hennies and Fr. David Handy (known to the blogosphere as "New Reformation Advocate"). Fr. Ron & his wife moved to New Mexico to be near their grown kids, and he's since become a priest in the Orthodox Church. Fr. David was in Sioux Falls to be with his mother in her last months of this life. He's since gone back East and recently transferred his ministry to the Anglican Church in North America.
Ah, but how rich it was for a little while to have Reformed, Catholic and Orthodox leaning Christians at Common Prayer. (Sorry, no full blown Charismatic, but we preferred grace to tokenism. Fr. Handy did, however, come to Good Shepherd one Sunday and serve with me as we offered laying on of hands and anointing for healing at the altar.) A glimpse of what Anglicanism used to be about before those great spiritual traditions were put aside for the emptiness of Liberal Protestant culture worship.
Fr. Shoberg was kind enough to send yesterday's sermon outline to our parish webmaster, and I share it with you here as well. I was gratified to run into a couple of parishioners at the market later, and hear their thanksgiving for a good message, delivered with depth and warmth.
+++
10 Pentecost (Proper 14B)
Fr. Warren Shoberg
Jesus said: "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry,
and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."
I. A review of this important series of passages in the lectionary.
A. John’s method of relating this episode.
*Feeding the 5,000
*Going to Capernaum
*Questioning by the crowd
*When did you come here?
*You look for me because you had your fill of the loaves.
*Do not work for the food that perishes but that which endures for eternal life.
B. What must we do to perform the works of God?
*Age old question, what must we do to belong?
*Jesus says "You must believe in him whom he has sent.
*What sign are you going to give us? What work are you performing?
*Moses did not give bread from heaven, but the heavenly father did.
*The bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.
*"I am the bread of Life."
C. Today the discourse continues
*Christ pronounces a formula
*The hearers misunderstand
II. Explanations raise new questions sometimes protests.
A. Jesus continues despite the misunderstandings/protests because he must speak the truth.
1. Progression leads to the summit in two weeks when all who hear must choose to follow Christ or leave him.
*"I am the bread that came down from heaven."
*Provokes strong reaction
*We know his father and mother, how can he have come down from heaven?
B. Jesus can be admired and followed because of his works and words.
*To accept him as coming from heaven is a matter of faith.
*Faith does not come from evidence or logical conclusions nor from irresistible force of works and miracles.
*Jesus knows this and continues.
*"No one can come to me unless drawn by the father who sent me."
III. Faith is a gift from the Father.
A. It is not a present received by certain persons and not by others
*It is akin to love.
*To believe and love go hand in hand.
*One is caught or suddenly seized and resists or is incapable of resisting.
*Gift of faith is received from one’s own free will and with thanksgiving.
*To believe is to allow oneself to be drawn by him who alone is infinitely worthy of love.
*"Do not complain among yourselves."
*God cannot coerce one to become attached to him.
B. When we love someone we find it impossible to believe that all do not have the same attraction.
*It is so and nothing we can do or say will change a persons opinion in this regard.
*In spite of all the good things we may say about the loved one, it remains that others must be seized in order to love.
*This is why Christians have no right to despise or judge non-believers but must humbly pray that all humans be drawn to Christ by the Father
*Isaiah 54:13 — "All your sons shall be taught by the Lord, And great shall be the prosperity of your sons."
*Jeremiah 31:33-34 — "But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each man teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."
C. Time is now because Jesus is the Word of God
*No one has seen God except him who came from his side.
*Whoever listens to God receives his Son’s teaching.
*Ultimate fulfillment of faith in God is faith in Christ in the same way as Christ leads to faith in the Father.
*Whoever comes to Jesus and recognizes in him the one sent by the Father, who receives the Word, already has eternal life.
D. Faith is not merely assent to a certain teaching, it is intimate adherence of the whole being to a person.
*It is a vital communion to be understood in the most concrete way.
*It is participation in the life of God – eternal life – assured by a certain food.
*In the desert God gave his children manna which sustained their life during their years of wandering, but was perishable food and those who ate it died.
*Jesus declares that he is the food offered to those who believe in him, a food that does not decay and that really confers eternal life to those who eat it.
*"I am the living bread come down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever."
E. Our faith in Jesus is shown in many ways
*In the way we worship
*In the way we care for others
*In the way we grow in our faith
F. Paul reminds us today that we are sealed by the Holy Spirit.
*We are God’s beloved children.
*We are to put away bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander.
*We are to be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another.
*We are to live in love as Christ loved us.
The risen Christ is the bread that every day restores our strength to get up and get going. Amen
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