Printer Friendly
PUBLIC POLICY ADVOCACY
The Charlotte 2005 delegates were clear about their concern for those who lack access to healthcare in this country. Subsequently, the congregations that studied this issue agreed nearly unanimously that everyone deserves basic healthcare. They recognized that the healthcare system in our country is broken and needs to be reformed to provide quality healthcare to everyone at affordable prices. Compassion for those lacking access motivates us to advocate for healthcare that provides access irrespective of financial and health status barriers. Correcting the healthcare system will require the efforts of both public and private sectors with the government as part of the process.
A team of persons chaired by Daryl Byler was assembled to provide information to help Mennonites speak to government about the needs for change in healthcare delivery. This team represented Mennonite agencies and interested parties including Mennonite Central Committee U.S., MMA, MHS Alliance, Mennonite Medical Association, Mennonite Nurses Association, Mennonite Economic Development Associates, and people representing Racial/Ethnic interests. The work of the team was accomplished by three gathered meetings and a number of conference calls. One of the meetings was with Congressional aides and other interested persons and agencies in Washington, D.C.
Our initial work centered on the theological framework that would guide later discussions. This work resulted in “Foundational Beliefs.” We condensed our discussions into five “Talking Points.” These can be used to evaluate legislative proposals or to respond to legislators with suggestions of principles to incorporate into healthcare reforms. An accompanying document, “Questions and Answers” containing additional background information will be available at San José 2007.
It is our hope that Mennonites will join others to speak to government to advocate for change that relieves the suffering, anxieties and financial burdens on those that lack healthcare access. We submit these pages to equip others to more effectively speak to their legislators.
What can delegates do?
- Carefully read the Foundational Beliefs and Talking points that follow.
- Become aware of the plight of people who lack health insurance.
- Speak to others—church members, neighbors and members of your community using the talking points as a guide.
- Write to legislators and other government officials to advocate for those lacking access to healthcare.
- Become informed about what political candidates advocate as solutions to the problems and use these materials to assess their proposals.
Mennonite Church USA
Healthcare Access Public Policy Group
Foundational Beliefs on Healthcare Access
In July 2005, Mennonite Church USA delegates approved Healthcare Access Statement: Our Theology. This document includes the declaration that “Because the scriptural test of a just nation is how it treats its weakest members (Micah 6:8; Amos 5:24; Jeremiah 5:26-29), we will be clear and consistent advocates to policymakers on behalf of public health matters and access to healthcare for everyone.” As Mennonite Church USA-related agency representatives with a specific interest in healthcare access public policy, we welcome this delegate action and affirm that a biblically-compatible healthcare system will:
I. Celebrate God’s generous provision of resources, assuring enough for everyone when shared equitably by all (Genesis 1-2; Leviticus 25; Psalm 35:5-9; 2 Corinthians 8-9).
God has been exceedingly generous, but resources are not unlimited. There is enough for all, provided that all recognize those limits and all share in those resources. Included in this basic principle of healthcare is the realization that:
- provision of enough for all requires stewardship by all;
- resources are limited and costs must be controlled;
- limits on medical intervention should be accepted (by every individual and as public policy) as intrinsic to our nature as finite creatures;
- risks, costs, responsibility and limits must be shared by all;
- greed and excessive profit are to be challenged;
- decision-making about healthcare, ranging from individual procedures to public policy, is a shared (community) task requiring discernment and humility.
II. Promote the flourishing (shalom) of the whole community, including each of its members (John 13:34-35; Acts 2-4; Romans 12; 1 Corinthians 12:12ff.).
Drawing on a common political metaphor, the Apostle Paul reminds the church that in Christ we are one body with many parts and roles, the flourishing of each essential to the flourishing of the whole. This reality alerts us to a direct parallel when considering national and international policy: both nation-state and international community will truly thrive only when they seek the well-being of each inhabitant. Applied to healthcare at a national level, this principle necessitates:
- access for all to quality care;
- adequate funding of public health measures, preventative care, long-term care, mental health treatment, dental care and disease management;
- government policies to assure access, quality and adequate funding;
- moral and financial commitments to quality healthcare for the two-thirds world.scussion
III. Protect the well-being of the weakest and most vulnerable members of society (Deuteronomy 10:17-19; 24:17-22; Psalm 72; Isaiah 1:16-17; Jeremiah 7:5-7; Matthew 25:31-46; Luke 1:46-55; 4:16-21).
Scripture, Old and New Testament alike, insists that we protect the interests of those who lack political and economic power, most often symbolized by the orphan, widow and stranger. The rationale for this protection includes Israel’s own redemption from the former status as slaves and strangers, God’s overriding concern for the weak and Christ’s personal identification with those on the margins of society. In healthcare, this principle necessitates that:
- the poor, working poor and others lacking political or economic power have ready access to quality healthcare;
- the system is structured to protect the interests of all people without power, such as children, people with disabilities or mental illness, the elderly and immigrants.
IV. Cultivate stewardship of God’s resources.
As Psalm 24 reminds us, “The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it.” God has entrusted the human community to be caretakers, guardians of
God’s good creation (Genesis 1:26-31; 2:15ff.; Psalm 8). This single task of stewardship— taking care of what belongs to God—has multiple sides, including utilizing, even maximizing, what God has supplied (Matthew 25:14-30), but also an overwhelming sense of generosity, especially toward those in need (Leviticus 25; Deuteronomy 15; Matthew 6:19-21; 20:1-16; Mark 12:41-44; 14:3-9; Luke 10:29-37; 1 Timothy 6:17-19). In healthcare, this expansive understanding of stewardship requires that:
- everyone is challenged to be a caretaker of health, including:
- empowering individuals and communities on issues of wellness, including disease prevention and management, as well as exercise and diet recommendations that are sensitive to geographic, cultural and economic differences;
- educating those in need with information on how to access and utilize the healthcare system;
- models of accountability and reconciliation compatible with Matthew 18:15-20, as well as contemporary experiences with restorative justice and victim/offender reconciliation, will guide situations where people have been genuinely harmed and/or where there are questions of provider error or negligence;
- caretaking and generosity are essential as government, employers, insurance groups, pharmaceutical and medical supply manufacturers and healthcare providers alike balance their “bottom line” with the human need for access to healthcare;
- local communities of faith remain engaged with issues of health and healthcare access.scussion
Mennonite Church USA Healthcare Access Initiative
Advocacy Talking Points
More than 46 million Americans—disproportionately African-Americans, Hispanics and the working poor—are uninsured. As a result, they lack ready access to care, which causes unnecessary deaths, increases morbidity among the acutely and chronically ill and results in higher costs. This situation is immoral and intolerable.
As an Anabaptist Christian community, we believe that a biblically compatible healthcare system will:
- celebrate God’s generous provision of resources, assuring enough for everyone when shared equitably by all;
- promote the flourishing of the whole community, including each of its members;
- protect the well-being of the weakest and most vulnerable members of society;
- cultivate stewardship of God’s resources.
We confess our own failure to act consistently upon these values. We commit ourselves, by God’s grace, to do so more faithfully.
We also call upon the 110th U.S. Congress to support bipartisan legislation that assures access without barriers to affordable, basic, quality healthcare for all. Specifically, we urge Congress to:
1. Support a healthcare system in which risks, costs and responsibility are shared by all. There is enough for all, if all share healthcare resources, recognize limits and seek to be caretakers of health. We can learn from the experience of countries with exemplary records of assuring access and controlling costs. In these countries, healthcare is seen as a human or social right that helps bind a society together. Those with means help to shoulder the cost for those without, and costs are controlled with cooperative bargaining power.
2. Eliminate financial and health status as barriers to healthcare access. Our faith tradition teaches us that special care is to be extended to the weakest and most vulnerable members of society. Healthcare for all joins the United States with all other developed countries in providing basic, affordable healthcare for all.
3. Strengthen public health systems in order to help create healthy communities. In order to affect long-term improvement in our nation’s overall health, increasing access to healthcare must go hand-in- hand with improving public health and reducing poverty. Public health measures will help eliminate unhealthy environmental factors, provide education and incentives for healthy lifestyle choices, and inform the public about the effectiveness and efficiency of healthcare measures.
4. Support and strengthen public insurance programs for vulnerable populations while comprehensive reform is being enacted. Programs such as Medicaid and State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) currently provide health coverage for more than 50 million individuals—including children and adults in low-income families, the elderly and the disabled. Still, many people who need coverage do not qualify, and many states and programs don’t cover needed services.
5. Openly address issues of quality, efficiency and limits. The quality of healthcare delivery is profoundly uneven, even for those with insurance, and sizable healthcare costs are due to advertising, administration and redundant tests. No system can afford to give everyone every medical procedure or treatment that they want or from which they might benefit.