Protecting the Health of Our Nation
- Cathy Levine
- Jan 23, 2017
- 2 min read
“Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health is the most shocking and inhumane.”
- Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The words spoken by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. more than 50 years ago ring just as true today. Ironically, as we were celebrating Dr. King’s birthday last week, Congress moved ahead with the first in a series of steps designed to repeal broad swaths of the Affordable Care Act, with no plan for its replacement.
The Affordable Care Act may not be perfect, but it has brought us closer to becoming a nation in which all God’s people can access health care, providing safety, comfort and peace of mind. Access to health care is particularly critical to those who live on the margins – those who are economically disadvantaged or suffering from illness.
Our faith calls on each of us to treat our neighbor as ourselves. Do we not owe it to our neighbors to stand together and urge our elected leaders to guarantee access to quality, affordable health care?
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the arbiter of legislative action and its impact, issued a report this week stating that repeal without replacement would cause 32 million Americans to lose insurance and many others to have their premiums doubled by 2016.
In this hour of need for our fellow Americans, there is still time to act. A time to speak with one voice and avert this pending disaster. Here are several actions you can take today:
Call or send a personal letter to your U.S. senator or representative and urge them not to repeal the ACA until they have enacted a replacement plan;
Encourage your congregations, faith leaders and your brothers and sisters to find and share the stories of those helped by the ACA; and
Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper.
We must not stand idly by when the ability to act is still in our hands.
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