File this under...

[kisekileia]

...reasons why I plan to never live in the U.S., and why I think the link U.S. Republicans sometimes draw between Christianity and a lack of government-funded social programs is an absolute travesty.

At least someone's writing about it and taking a stand.

Comments

[rainbow_goddess]

I totally agree. I mean, the health care system up here is far from perfect, but it's a thousand times better than what they have in the States.

[christinaathena]

Yeah, the American health care system is a disgrace. We pay more than any other country per capita (even when you take into account higher taxes charged elsewhere for their health systems) and get much less quality health care than most other wealthy countries.

[kisekileia]

I know. When people say the U.S. system is better than what we have in Canada, the three stats I immediately point out are: $ spent on health per capita, life expectancy, and infant mortality. Canada and other developed countries do better than the U.S. on all three of those stats.

[hacksawbebo]

Look, I know that many progressives have their hearts set on seeing Barack Obama get the Democratic nomination. But politics is supposed to be about more than cheering your team and jeering the other side. It’s supposed to be about changing the country for the better.Exactly what political process has this guy been watching for the last 10 years

[kisekileia]

Yeah, you guys have a huge amount of administrative inefficiency with the HMO system and insurance companies, along with most players in the health care system taking fat profits that siphon money out of ordinary people's pockets, which makes it really hard to get people insured at a reasonable cost. I mean, you're already paying more for health care per capita than citizens of any other country, and that's without everyone even having coverage. (Some of that could be mitigated by more poor people being able to go to GPs for health problems that now end up building up until the people have to go to the ER, though. However, that benefit would take years to realize, since the benefits of preventative health care are mostly long-term.)

I think that American cultural mindset is probably much of why you guys don't have universal health care yet, but I also think many aspects of that mindset need to go away in general :P.

[crumblingredsky]

Yup. Been there, done that, paid the ER bill. Thank god my mom could help me out, or i don't know what i'd have done.

i'm not sure where you stand on abortion, but it really doesn't matter, even though that's what this article is mostly about--the quote has stuck with me and i think it applies. Evangelical Christianity has its bootstrapping head up its ass when it comes to social programs. i thought Jesus was about helping the small and the powerless, for fuck's sake.

[kisekileia]

It's kind of disturbing that the quote doesn't surprise me. I understand the logic behind it, but it's still fucking horrible. And I agree with you completely about it. Incidentally, there are moderate evangelicals (e.g. at Sojourners, which was mentioned in the quote) who advocate what they describe as a more comprehensive ethic of life, meaning that people who have already been born are important too. That camp also realizes that there's a direct causal connection between poverty, lack of health care, and many abortions, and pays a lot more attention to social justice issues than to abortion laws.

I think I'm going to email you on the abortion thing because I have a feeling that some of my LJ friends would want to refute my (mostly pro-choice) stance, and I don't really want to get an abortion debate going here :P.

[bwc1976]

Yes! I totally agree with your last sentence. He set the ultimate example of self-sacrifice and unconditional love.

[angelsbridges]

Doesn't it make you want to vomit?

The problem I'm facing right now is this: I can't afford the health insurance through my work. i should say, I can't comfortably afford health insurance. Almost an entire paycheck goes to rent (which the rent I pay is cheap, considering I live in a house and one bedroom apartments are 600 cheap, I pay 600 a month). But I have a cell phone bill and three credit cards to pay off. I make 400 dollars (before taxes) too much a month to get medical assistance through our state. So, what can I do right now? Nothing. Pray I don't get sick, I guess, or have an accident.

A trip to a clinic that takes people without health insurance (there are only 3 clinic/hospitals that I know of, have you pay $50 up front and then they bill you the rest (and you won't know what that is until you get the bill).

I really can't stand the way this works. The more people who write about it, the better.

[kisekileia]

Yeah, that's horrible.