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AHCA will hurt millions of Americans; Mary Pellegrino (MP), Leadership Team, Sisters of St. Joseph of Baden; Beaver County Times; June 4, 2017. Cosigners were Sisters Diane Cauley, Sharon Costello, and Barbara Czyrnik.
In the interest of disclosure, I attended St. Titus grade school in Aliquippa during the 1950s and 1960s. The Sisters of St. Joseph operated St. Titus.
Previous letters from Sister Pellegrino are here, here and here. Previous letters from other Sisters of St. Joseph are here, here, here, and here.
Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.
“‘A nation’s health care system cannot be run simply as a business because human lives are at stake.’
“We join the voice of Pope Francis who reminds us that quality health care is a basic human right and a fundamental social good for all of God’s people. As Sisters of St. Joseph, we are inspired by the Gospel and our mission to respond to the urgent and critical needs of our neighbors, particularly the frail elderly, those who are poor and vulnerable, those with diminished mental or physical capacities, and those who are chronically ill.”
[RWC] Unfortunately, the letter starts by misquoting Pope Francis (PF). It appears the sisters turned someone’s self-serving paraphrasing of PF into a “quote.” In fairness, there are a lot of outlets using the apparently-faux quote.
According to the Holy See, PF said, “The application of a business approach to the healthcare sector, if indiscriminate, instead of optimising resources may risk discarding human beings. Optimising resources means using them in an ethical and fraternal way, and not penalising the most fragile.”
There’s a big difference between what the letter claims PF said and what he really said. I hope the sisters are merely guilty of poor fact-checking.
Please read my Healthcare paper.
“Under the American Health Care Act, the Congressional Budget Office projects that by 2026, there will be 14 million fewer people with Medicaid coverage, 3 million fewer with employer-sponsored coverage, and 6 million fewer with individual market coverage. In Pennsylvania, this means that 371,800 people would lose Medicaid coverage, 129,200 would lose employer-sponsored coverage, and 275,700 would lose coverage in the individual market.
“Behind these statistics are real people -- human lives -- many of whom are low-income Americans or working families who are already struggling to make ends meet. It will be harder and more expensive for them to get affordable nursing home care for an elderly parent or home-care services that allow many seniors to remain at home.”
[RWC] You probably noticed the sisters say nothing about those who would shoulder the burden. There aren’t enough “rich” people to pay for everything even if they were taxed 100%, which could be done only once. How many self-sufficient families will become “struggling” or worse because government will take a bigger chunk of their pay and pension checks?
“Please join our voice, and our prayer, that our government leaders can craft a quality health care law that is affordable, accessible and comprehensive -- because precious human lives are at stake.”
[RWC] Not only did the letter start with a faux quote of PF, it ends with a portion of that faux quote.
Government has been monkeying around with healthcare since at least World War II and where we are is the result. The only way “that our government leaders can craft a quality health care law that is affordable, accessible and comprehensive” is to pass legislation that stops government meddling in our medical care. Unfortunately, there are too few in government – regardless of ideology and/or politics - willing to return our power to us citizens. Obamacare and the AHCA are only the latest examples.
A free market represents the best approach to providing the best combination of healthcare accessibility, choice, price, quality, timeliness of treatment, et cetera. Citizens cannot be dependent on their government for medical needs and remain free.
No approach – either private or public – is perfect and some people won’t be able to afford healthcare or healthcare insurance no matter how inexpensive it is. Should people who need help because of unforeseen circumstances should get it? Of course, but via private charities funded by voluntary contributions.
In a previous letter, Sister Pellegrino disclosed the Sisters of St. Joseph of Baden are in bed with “NETWORK, a Catholic social justice lobby.” A visit to the NETWORK website shows NETWORK is just another leftist activist group that supports the leftist position on nearly every issue.
© 2004-2017 Robert W. Cox, all rights reserved.