www.theleaven.com | Newspaper of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas | Vol. 31, No. 6 september 11, 2009
Principles of Catholic Social Teaching and Health Care Reform A Joint Pastoral Statement of
Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann and Bishop Robert W. Finn Health care reform joint pastoral statement: summary points
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ear Faithful of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas and of the Diocese of Kansas CitySt. Joseph, To his credit, President Barack Obama has made it a major priority for his administration to address the current flaws in our nation’s health care policies. In fairness, members of both political parties for some time have recognized significant problems in the current methods of providing health care. As Catholics, we are proud of the Church’s health care contribution to the world. Indeed, the hospital was originally an innovation of the Catholic faithful responding to our Lord’s call to care for the sick, “For I was . . . ill and you cared for me” (Mt 25: 35-36). This tradition continues today in America, where currently one in four hospitals is run by a Catholic agency. We have listened to current debate with great attention and write now to contribute our part to ensure that this reform be an authentic reform taking full consideration of the dignity of the human person. Some symptoms of the inadequacy of our present health care
Bishop Robert W. Finn
Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann
polices are: • There are many people — typically cited as 47 million — without medical insurance. • The cost of health insurance continues to rise, with medical spending in the United States at $2.2 trillion in 2007, constituting 17 percent of the gross domestic product, and predicted to double within 10 years. (Source: Office of Public Affairs, 2008: http:// www.cms.hhs.gov/NationalHealth ExpendData/downloads/proj2008. pdf). • The Medicare Trust Fund is predicted to be insolvent by 2019. • Mandated health insurance benefits for full-time workers have created an incentive for companies
to hire part-time rather than fulltime employees. • Similarly, the much higher cost to employers for family health coverage, as compared to individual coverage, places job candidates with many dependents at a disadvantage in a competitive market. • Individuals with pre-existing conditions who most need medical care are often denied the means to acquire it. There are also perceived strengths of our current system: • Most Americans like the medical care services available to them. Our country, in some ways, is the envy of people from countries with socialized systems of medical care. • It is important to remember that 85 percent of citizens in the United States do have insurance. Forty percent of the uninsured are between 19-34 years old. (Source: Current Population Survey 2008 Annual Social and Economic Supplement). A 2007 study by the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and Uninsured found that 11 million of those without insurance were eligible for Medicaid or
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Health care reform is needed and President Obama is to be applauded for making this a major priority for the nation. Despite the many flaws with the status quo, change itself does not guarantee improvement. The state of health care in our nation could worsen if we diminish the current protections for the sanctity of human life; coerce Americans to fund abortion; negate or weaken protection of conscience rights for doctors, nurses, hospitals and health care systems; create a scenario where health care will be rationed based on some arbitrary assessment of the quality of life. Catholics, in evaluating various health care reform proposals, should apply four principles of the Catholic social teaching: 1) Subsidiarity: respect for the inherent dignity and freedom of the individual by never doing for others what they can do for themselves, and thus enabling individuals to have the most possible discretion in the affairs of their lives. 2) Sanctity of human life: respect for the sacredness of every human life and the dignity of the human person — no matter stage of development, age, or physical or mental condition. • The right of every individual to have access to health care as well as the other necessities for sustaining and caring for human life. • The responsibility of each individual to take proper care of his or her health and a duty to exercise virtue (e.g., diligence, prudence, etc.) in acquiring health care for oneself and one’s family. 3) Promotion of the common good: an obligation to be concerned not just about our own welfare and the welfare of our family, but the welfare of each and every member of society. 4) Solidarity: the special claim the poor and vulnerable have on our concern, desiring for them the same access to quality health care as we want for our own families.