We require Health Care when our health is compromised.
Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.
Luke 10, NRSV
The nature of health care has changed substantially since biblical times, but the importance of health care has remained the same. Consistent with the Social Principles and Book of Resolutions, the General Board of Church and Society advocates for health care as a human right that must be made available to all.
From our earliest days United Methodists have believed that providing health care to others is an important duty of Christians. John Wesley found ways to offer medical services at no cost to the poor in London. The first Methodist Social Creed (adopted in 1908) urged working conditions to safeguard the health of workers and community.
Biblical and Theological Context
The United Methodist Church in its Social Principles regards healthcare as a basic human right, as well as a responsibility both public and private. As the position of the Church elaborates: "We encourage individuals to pursue a healthy lifestyle and ... also recognize the role of governments in ensuring the each individual has access to those elements necessary to good health." (Social Principles, ¶162T) The United Methodist Church's General Conference has also passed a number of health-related resolutions elaborating on the importance of health care for all, and some of the significant issues that keep us from realizing this principle. Healthcare in the United States is beset by three central interlocking problems - cost, access, and quality. Because of deficiencies in the current system, Americans as a whole receive poorer health care than other industrial countries that spend only half as much. The most visible problem is the 46 million Americans who have no health insurance. Each year in May we support Cover the Uninsured Week, which calls attention to this problem.
Scripture references: Luke 10:25-35 and Ezekiel 34:4.
What GBCS is Doing
GBCS advocates for health care for all in the United States by focusing on a single-payer national health plan on the state and federal level, protecting the building blocks of universal health care (Medicare, Medicaid, Veterans Health, Indian Health Service, and employer-sponsored health care insurance) and promoting the Health Care Justice Sabbath Program.
Public option included in landmark legislation that passed 220-215.
Downloadable Resources
Spiritual Discernment: A Guide for Genetic and Reproductive Technologies is a resource offered to the church as a gift for persons who want to study these issues more deeply and also for persons who are personally considering making a decision to undergo these procedures. The guide does not provide answers but provides spiritual reflections for discernment, case studies, factual information about these technologies and questions for dialogue. A study guide is at the back of the booklet for use in small groups or for individuals. The guide provides two options for study: a one time, 2 hour session or four 2-hour sessions. We commend this to you for your use hoping it will bring both education and insight.
This resource was produced by the GBCS Bioethics Task Force. Publishing date: 2008
Building A Better Health Care System
After considerable study and review, the National Coalition on Health Care has published its specifications for building a better health care system that addresses the issues of access, cost and quality on behalf of its members.
PEPFAR: The Next Phase of US Global AIDS Assistance, 2009-2013 In 2003, the United States launched the President’s Emergency Plan on AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the largest bilateral HIV/AIDS program in the world. PEPFAR has provided antiretroviral therapy for approximately 1.6 million people in 15 focus countries, and has contributed to providing prevention and care services for millions more. On 30 July 2008, President Bush signed into law the “Tom Lantos and Henry J. Hyde United States Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008,” the bill that defines the next phase of US global AIDS programs. This bipartisan effort will renew the US global AIDS programs for another five years (beginning in 2009). While still imperfect in many ways, the new version of PEPFAR also holds a great deal of promise for people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS in the current 15 focus countries and beyond.
How to Become a Caring Community
This resource provides a series of suggestions on steps congregations can take, in the areas of education, covenant, welcome, support, and advocacy on behalf of persons with mental illness and their families, in order to become a United Methodist Caring Community.
Restrictions on Health Care for Women Proposed
Letter to President George W. Bush and Health and Human Secretary Michael O. Leavitt about proposed regulations that will negatively affect access to critical health services for men and women. The proposed regulations require any entity receiving U.S. funding from the Department of Health and Human Services to certify that is does not discriminate against organizations or individuals who do no want to provide services they consider objectionable.
Links
Cover the Uninsured Week
A program one week each year, sponsored by the Robert Word Johnson Foundation and various partners including the United Methodist Church to emphasize the need for health coverage for those without health insurance.
Healthcare-Now
An organization seeking to educate the American public and work directly for legislation to achieve this end. Healthcare-Now has been a key supporter of House Resolution 676, the United States National Health Insurance Act.
National Coalition on Health Care
NCHC is a major coalition of business, labor and faith community groups whose honorary chairs are former Presidents Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush.
UMC Congregational Health Ministries
A program of the General Board of Global Ministries encouraging congregational involvement in health care through parish nurses, Stephens Ministers, etc.
Universal Health Care Action Network
A nationwide grassroots organization that GBCS is participating in. In addition to national advocacy for universal health care, UHCAN has been especially supportive of state level efforts. UHCAN maintains a current listing of state level efforts on its Web site.
The community provides the potential for nurturing human beings into the fullness of their humanity. We believe we have a responsibility to innovate, sponsor, and evaluate new forms of community that will encourage development of the fullest potential in individuals. Primary for us is the gospel understanding that all persons are important—because they are human beings created by God and loved through and by Jesus Christ and not because they have merited significance. We therefore support social climates in which human communities are maintained and strengthened for the sake of all persons and their growth. We also encourage all individuals to be sensitive to others by using appropriate language when referring to all persons. Language of a derogatory nature (with regard to race, nationality, ethnic background, gender, sexuality, and physical differences) does not reflect value for one another and contradicts the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The rights and privileges a society bestows upon or withholds from those who comprise it indicate the relative esteem in which that society holds particular persons and groups of persons. We affirm all persons as equally valuable in the sight of God. We therefore work toward societies in which each person’s value is recognized, maintained, and strengthened. We support the basic rights of all persons to equal access to housing, education, communication, employment, medical care, legal redress for grievances, and physical protection. We deplore acts of hate or violence against groups or persons based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religious affiliation, or economic status. Our respect for the inherent dignity of all persons leads us to call for the recognition, protection, and implementation of the principles of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights so that communities and individuals may claim and enjoy their universal, indivisible, and inalienable rights.
Health is a condition of physical, mental, social, and spiritual well-being. John 10:10b says, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” Stewardship of health is the responsibility of each person to whom health has been entrusted. Creating the personal, environmental, and social conditions in which health can thrive is a joint responsibility—public and private. We encourage individuals to pursue a healthy lifestyle and affirm the importance of preventive health care, health education, environmental and occupational safety, good nutrition,and secure housing in achieving health. Health care is a basic human right.
Providing the care needed to maintain health, prevent disease, and restore health after injury or illness is a responsibility each person owes others and government owes to all, a responsibility government ignores at its peril. In Ezekiel 34:4a, God points out the failures of the leadership of Israel to care for the weak: “You have not strengthened the weak, you have not healed the sick, you have not bound up the injured.” As a result all suffer. Like police and fire protection, health care is best funded through the government’s ability to tax each person equitably and directly fund the provider entities. Countries facing a public health crisis such as HIV/AIDS must have access to generic medicines and to patented medicines. We affirm the right of men and women to have access to comprehensive reproductive health/family planning information and services that will serve as a means to prevent unplanned pregnancies, reduce abortions, and prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. The right to health care includes care for persons with brain diseases, neurological conditions, or physical disabilities, who must be afforded the same access to health care as all other persons in our communities. It is unjust to construct or perpetuate barriers to physical or mental wholeness or full participation in community.
We believe it is a governmental responsibility to provide all citizens with health care.
Spiritual Discernment: A Guide for Genetic and Reproductive Technologies is a resource offered to the church as a gift for persons who want to study these issues more deeply and also for persons who are personally considering making a decision to undergo these procedures. The guide does not provide answers but provides spiritual reflections for discernment, case studies, factual information about these technologies and questions for dialogue. A study guide is at the back of the booklet for use in small groups or for individuals. The guide provides two options for study: a one time, 2 hour session or four 2-hour sessions. We commend this to you for your use hoping it will bring both education and insight.