Nurses, Doctors, "Real" Christians support Health Care Reform

I don't know what I did to deserve it but somehow I got on the email list from the Christian Coalition of America.

How Christian does this sound?

Click here and join our campaign to demand the repeal of Health Care
today!

That's what they said, except they used the term Obamacare instead of Health Care.

I love, by the way, that they have attached the name "Obamacare" to the concept of better health care and more affordable insurance for more people. In 10, 20, 30 years from now, people will be calling it that, and thanking their parents and grandparents for having the foresight and the stick-to-it-iveness to pass "Obamacare," the landmark legislation. The name Obama will forever by inscribed in the nation's lexicon.

Back to the subject.

The Christian Coalition says that the current Health Care Reform law will "mandate taxpayer funding of abortion." That is a lie.

Were they not around when Bart Stupak almost killed the bill but then supported it after he got wording inserted in the House version that guarantees abortions are not covered? Do they not remember that the Senate version did not include the same wording, and that the president then issued an executive order banning funding of abortion. Do they not understand that the Hyde amendment already restricts funding of abortions with taxpayer dollars?

The Christian Coalition also says that they current Health Care Reform law will "Limit our choice of doctors." That is a lie.

The current health care law contains a Patient's bill of rights that says of itself:

"(The Patient's bill of rights) will help children (and eventually all Americans) with pre-existing conditions gain coverage and keep it, protect all Americans’ choice of doctors, and end lifetime limits on the care consumers may receive."

My advice to the Christian Coalition is to revisit Commandment number IX (or VIII, depending on whose version of the Bible you are reading) about bearing false witness to your neighbor.

We hear all the time about a fear that doctors will no longer be in control of patient care (currently insurance companies are in control, but that is another story). So what do the doctors say?

The president of the American Medical Association, Dr. Cecil Wilson, has a blog. He says the current law has a lot of good in it, and should not be repealed. The good, in his opinion, includes.

• Expansion of health insurance coverage to 32 million people who currently do not have it, and as a result, are at a greater risk of living sicker and dying younger

• Health insurance reforms to eliminate pre-existing condition provisions of policies and lifetime caps on coverage, thus providing protection to millions who change jobs or have severe chronic diseases, such as cancer

• Expansion of benefits for preventive and wellness services

• Closing the doughnut hole in Medicare Part D, thereby helping seniors purchase needed medications

• Research to improve medical care

• Expansion of health insurance market competition through health exchanges to improve choice and price

Now there are some things about it, he says, that need to be fixed. but don't throw the baby out with the bathwater, he says; rather to "wash the baby and drain out the dirty water."

President Obama indicated he is willing to do that, as he encouraged lawmakers to work on fixes to a couple of problems with the bill.

What about the ones who really take care of patients. Nurses. What do they say?

The American Nurses Association sent out an email yesterday that said this:

The American Nurses Association (ANA) applauds the president’s strong
commitment to the current health care law. Already millions of
Americans, both young and old, are reaping the benefits of the new
law, and it will strengthen and improve the health care system for
generations to come.

Click on a link in the email and you go to their web site, where you find this.

Last year with your help we won the long fight to enact meaningful Health Care Reform, but it's a new year and a new Congress. The first action of the House of Representatives was to vote to repeal Health Care Reform in its entirety. This is just the first of many threats to come. We need your help to make sure that the vital reforms we worked so hard to achieve aren't rolled back, and that they are implemented effectively. Here are the tools you need to stay informed and get involved!

So health care professionals are strongly against repeal, as are all educated and informed Americans. Oh, and so are Christians...at least the ones who follow Christ.



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