Editorial: Our state, national health care failure
Bishop Stephen E. Blaire and Rabbi Alan Henkin
Sacramento Bee Editorial
As religious leaders, our traditions call us to protect the well-being of every human life because we are created in God's image. As a nation, we have failed to meet that duty because we permit people to suffer and die for lack of health care.
We cannot tolerate the injustice that leaves millions of our brothers and sisters without access to health care because they have inadequate insurance or, like over 6.5 million Californians, none at all.
In California, we stand at a crossroads. Here are two truths about health care in California.
First, our system of health care coverage is broken. While we have fine doctors, nurses, hospitals and clinics, it's difficult for many of us, even many who have health insurance, to afford and to receive the actual care we need.
In our congregations, we hear heartbreaking stories every day that evoke our compassion and offend our consciences, such as the story of a couple whose insurance company left them stranded when they both got sick, the wife with cancer. In the end, they went bankrupt, had to mortgage their home and cannot afford the follow-up care they need.
The second truth is that we have an opportunity to do something about it, this year.
September 6, 2007 at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Blog Reactions
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