The Sheep and the Goats

“‘I was a stranger and you never made me feel welcome, lacking clothes and you never clothed me, sick and in prison and you never visited me.’  Then it will be their turn to ask, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty, a stranger or lacking clothes, sick or in prison, and did not come to your help?’  Then he will answer, ‘In truth I tell you, in as far as you neglected to do this to one of the least of these, you neglected to do it to me.’” — Matthew 25:43-46

In this parable of the Last Judgment, Jesus states that people are to be judged by their works of mercy,  as a shepherd separates sheep from goats.

In the United States today, a broken health care system separates human beings into sheep and goats as if they are cattle.  Rationing of health care does not start in some future scenario.  It is a reality today.

Previously I enjoyed the benefits of group health insurance coverage provided by an employer.  Then for the past five years I was self-employed and had to purchase an individual policy for myself.   I faithfully paid premiums to Blue Cross Blue Shield so that I could keep health insurance coverage.  The first thing I learned with it was that certain conditions I had were to be excluded from any coverage because they were “pre-existing.”

Secondly, I learned that the insurance was relatively affordable as long as I didn’t need it.  But when I did that would make the premium rates and deductibles I had to pay for increase. And finally I have learned what it is like to be deemed “unworthy” and excluded altogether from health insurance.

That is how rationing exists in the US today.  People are divided into groups of haves and have-nots.  We are a two-tiered society, where the fortunate ones have full access to health care coverage, and the others can fend for themselves.

In recent weeks I have been following the health care reform debate closely.  Thanks to the internet we have a free flow of information that cannot be controlled by the media.  On the internet citizens express their outrage at the injustice that is the American health care system of today.

There are many encouraging developments every day as people get organized and speak up for universal health care.

Americans who are denied health insurance coverage by insurers are essentially being told, “you are not worthy,”  because the insurer has deemed their condition as not profitable enough for them.   They have become second class citizens of the US who do not have equal access to health care.  See my previous blog post, The Baucus Plan and 44,000 Uninsured Deaths a Year for more on this.

Can the Congress seriously believe that we can wait until 2013 to start health care reform?  What can they be thinking?  An estimated 44,000 people are dying each year, that is 122 per day.

At a minimum we need a robust public option, or as Dr. Howard Dean has proposed, to open Medicare in 2010 to people between 55 and 65 years old who lack coverage.

We must keep the pressure on Congress to enact the sweeping health care reform we need with a robust public option.