Biblical Health Care
Is
universal health care Biblical or unbiblical?
Universal health care is Biblical:
"Then Jesus answered and said: "A certain man went down
from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his
clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a
certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the
other side. Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked,
and passed by on the other side." (Luke 10:30-32)
In the parable of the good Samaritan above, the priest and the Levite had legitimate
excuses for not caring for a stranger in need of medical care, for if they
discovered the stranger to already have died, touching his dead body would have made them
ceremonially unclean and therefore unable to perform their priestly functions
(see
Leviticus 21).
But Jesus clearly gave priority to and commanded us to provide medical care, not
to withhold it and blame the stranger for irresponsibly traveling without
adequate protection or because of some financial or other negative impact that
providing such care could have on us:
"But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he
was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. So he went to him and bandaged his
wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him
to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out
two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and
whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.’ So which of these
three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?” And he said,
“He who showed mercy on him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise."
(Luke 10:33-37)
When we see a sick person, we are to simply provide care, which universal health care does.
Besides being Biblical, universal health care is also economical and efficient.
Per capita, our health care spending is more than double the health care
spending of advanced nations that have universal health care, but our health
care system provides inferior care for the poor, creates too much paperwork for
doctors, is too contentious and litigious, and allows the few (drug and
insurance companies, medical malpractice lawyers, etc.) to profiteer at
the expense and the sufferings of the many.