Health Care

“Affordable and accessible health care is an essential safeguard of human life and a fundamental human right. Any plan to reform the nation’s health care system must be rooted in values that respect human dignity, protect human life, and meet the unique needs of [people who are] poor. We support health care that is affordable and accessible to all.”     

 --Adapted from the U.S. Catholic Bishops, Faithful Citizenship: Civic Responsibility for a New Millennium

Healthcare is a social good for our country and a right for every individual.  All people should have access to quality, affordable healthcare. There must be adequate supports for those who are unable to pay for health insurance either through an expansion of Medicaid or through subsidies for private insurance premiums.  Our healthcare system should limit patient out-of-pocket costs (premiums, deductibles and co-pays) and have no financial cap on benefits.

People with pre-existing medical conditions should not be excluded from affordable healthcare, and insurance companies must not drop coverage because someone becomes ill.

Healthcare needs to be “portable.” This means that it should not be limited to one employer or one state and should travel with individuals as they move around our country.  Quality healthcare for everyone is needed in our country.

--Adapted from Network

Take Action:

We need healthcare reform now:  http://capwiz.com/networklobby/issues/alert/?alertid=14174956&type=CO

Prayer

O Christ,
Who gathered the children to yourself, bring healing to those small, frail and vulnerable.

We pray for the children of the world, especially for those who are sick and dying,

of malnourishment, of preventable diseases.

Forgive our silence, our lack of compassion and action for these innocent victims.

Increase our love for children and consecrate this compassion.

Empower us to work with one another to shape a world of justice for all your children,

a world where all may grow in health and all may develop fully.

Amen

--Education for Justice

Websites to visit

USCCB http://www.usccb.org/healthcare/

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
http://www.cbpp.org/pubs/health.htm 

Jericho http://www.jerichoforjustice.org/index.html 

Millennium Development Goal #5 – Improve Maternal Health
http://www.undp.org/mdg/goal5.shtml

Millennium Development Goal #6 - Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases http://www.undp.org/mdg/goal6.shtml

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