The ability of every citizen of the nation to receive adequate and affordable health care is a moral imperative. As a matter of justice and fairness for all, big businesses and special interest can no longer be allowed to derail the process of meeting this critical need of the American people.Most people know something must be done soon to protect the children, elders, sick and all who need immediate attention for their health care needs. There are nearly 50 million Americans without health care insurance.
A plan is needed that would end discrimination against people with pre-existing conditions and prevent insurance companies from dropping coverage when people are sick and need it most. The public option will provide the uninsured with a cost effective choice.
This is why they support the Health Care Reform Bill with a public option as expressed by President Barack Obama.
The vast majority of people with existing health care services are under-insured with extraordinary deductibles. The increasingly transitional job market and the need to address general public wellness and disease prevention on an individual basis compound the problem.
This translates into the rise of chronic disease among children as early as eight years old and causes their elderly grandparents to have to choose between food and medicine. This state of affairs in one of the wealthiest and advanced nations in the world is immoral and unacceptable. As the United States is the only industrialized nation without a comprehensive health plan for every citizen, fair and affordable health care for every American can and must be provided.
For nearly a century, national leaders have called for an overhaul of the health care system. Yet, instead of significant change, there is stagnation and compromise. Billions of dollars have been expended to protect American interests abroad and corporate interests at home. We must now recognize the significant potential return on the investment in the health care system.
After 100 years of trying, we are yet left saying like Jeremiah the prophet, “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.”
We ask all CMEs and other concerned Americans to write and call their congressional representatives both in the House and the Senate to express support for a Health Care Reform Bill with a public option.
The Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, under the leadership of Senior Bishop William H. Graves and its College of Bishops, is a 138-year old historically African American Christian denomination with more than 800,000 members across the United States and has missions and sister churches in Haiti, Jamaica, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.