Dear Editor:
Would we be having a national discussion about healthcare and what it means to be American if we took to heart Matthew 25:40 "What so ever you do for the least of my brothers, that you do unto me." This is the novelty of the Christian message. How the least among us is treated is more important than how we give comfort to the most powerful in our society.
This past week a retired white citizen who probably secured a healthcare plan from his employer published a letter here. He stated the constitution was a barrier to the idea that a citizen is "entitled" to healthcare. This is a stark contrast to every other industrialized country on this planet. Healthcare delivery in America is a scandal when it is compared to the other 31 industrialized nations. A much-maligned Obamacare gave 20 million people healthcare coverage. This still left 30 million people without healthcare. Compared to the rest of the world, we are a massive healthcare delivery failure. The United Nations rates us 26th in health care delivery. It's not because our doctors or hospitals are bad. It's because so many people do not receive health care.
In America most people have to personally be able to buy healthcare. Here is the second big scandal. American healthcare costs twice as much as any other industrialized country. The average cost of American healthcare insurance is close to $9,000 per person. Think about that when the median family income in Missouri is less than $50,000. Obamacare was not maximized in Missouri because people like my local state senator said he did not trust the federal government. Medicaid expansion and federal reimbursements was a big part of Obamacare.
The majority of the 20 million people who benefited from Obamacare did not complain. But for those whom it was not perfect Republican politicians recruited them to make you think the system was a failure. Most Americans (85 percent) have employer health insurance or the earned benefit of Medicare. Obamacare was a small part of the entire system.
Now Republican politicians are trying to cram through Trumpcare, hurting the very voters that put them in office. What is the upside? Rich Americans who make over $250,000 a year will save a few thousand dollars a year while more than 20 million Americans will lose their healthcare. There is nothing Christian about this.
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