Monday, February 27, 2012

Catholic Nun Groups to Supreme Court: Affordable Care is a Mandate of Civilized Society


A group of nuns that represent the leadership of Catholic women’s religious orders from across the United States (the "amici curiae")  filed a brief last week with the nation's Supreme Court in support of President Obama's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. 
The sisters have a long record of service in the public health care sector, founding free clinics and hospitals for the underprivileged since the earliest days of the union. Their powerful words:
Amici have witnessed firsthand the national crisis that prompted Congress to pass the Affordable Health Care Act. We have seen the devastating impact of the lack of affordable health insurance and health care on women, children, and other vulnerable members of society.
 We believe..... it is a moral imperative that all levels of government institute programs that ensure the poor receive health care (and that)  Medicaid expansion under the Act is critical to the communities we serve.

Did You Know: Catholic Means "Universal"
Many of the Amici (Latin for "friends") have devoted their lives to providing care to those most in need, and it appears they are not alone in their devotion. Even the Holy See has called health care an “inalienable right,” and the
 “moral responsibility of nations to guarantee access to health care for all of their citizens.”~Pope Benedict XVI
Jesus Agrees! 
Dr. Jesus Ortiz agrees.  The state of American health care drove him to create Orbicare (Latin for "care for the world"), an organization that helps the uninsured and under-insured (which numbers about 30% of the US population) get health care in Latin America and Europe, where health care costs tend to be much lower than the US, with equal quality and, often, superior service.  As Dr. Ortiz notes,

"American health care is among the best in the world - why the high cost, and what can we do about it?"  ~Dr. Jesus Ortiz, Founder, Orbicare

What We're Driving At:  Is it Time To Outsource American Health Care?
Dr. Ortiz compiled some fascinating statistics (in this free downloadable brochure) about the sad state of the US health care system, including the shocking statistic that US ranks #1 in the world in cost of heath care, but much farther down the list - forget the top 3, not even the top 25 - in life expectancy and infant mortality.

For those neither young nor old that think this problem somehow does not affect them, General Motors says this is how much health care adds to the cost of each new car it sells:
a.  more than $500
b.  about $750
c.  more than $1500
The good Sisters have spoken. What do you think?

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