{"id":4777,"date":"2013-10-08T07:27:33","date_gmt":"2013-10-08T12:27:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/?p=4777"},"modified":"2013-10-01T11:11:55","modified_gmt":"2013-10-01T16:11:55","slug":"october-13-2013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/october-13-2013\/","title":{"rendered":"October 13, 2013–The Cost of Healing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Contributed by John Wertz, Blacksburg, VA<\/p>\n

Warm-up Question<\/h3>\n

Think about the last time you were really sick.\u00a0 Who helped you to deal with your illness?\u00a0 How did you express your gratitude to that person?<\/p>\n

The Cost of Healing<\/h3>\n

Everyone will get sick at some point in their lives, however, since a visit to the doctor or the emergency room, can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars, it has not always been possible for those who are sick to see a doctor, especially if they lack insurance. \u00a0\u00a0According to the Health Insurance Coverage Estimates produced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “In the first 3 months of 2013, 46.0 million persons of all ages (14.8%) were uninsured at the time of interview, 57.4 million (18.5%) had been uninsured for at least part of the year prior to interview, and 34.5 million (11.1%) had been uninsured for more than a year at the time of interview.” \u00a0\u00a0When the statistics are examined more closely, it becomes clear that the uninsured rate is even higher for those on the lower end of the socio-economic scale.\u00a0 For people who are considered poor (those earning up to $23,550 in income for a family of 4) or near poor (those earning up to $47,100 in income for a family of four), the uninsured rate rises to nearly 30%. (accessed Sept. 30, 2013 – http:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/nchs\/data\/nhis\/earlyrelease\/insur201309.pdf<\/a> and http:\/\/aspe.hhs.gov\/poverty\/13poverty.cfm#guidelines<\/a>).\u00a0 For those struggling to make a living, therefore, adequate health care can be out of their financial reach and a major medical event can mean financial disaster.<\/p>\n

In an attempt to provide access to health care to all Americans, the Federal government passed the Affordable Health Care Act in 2010.\u00a0 After three years of lawsuits and political wrangling, the Act went into effect at the beginning of this month.\u00a0 While it will be years, before the success or failure of this law can be accurately measured, in the short-term millions of our most vulnerable neighbors will now have access to medical insurance and the care that they need when they are ill.<\/p>\n

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Discussion Questions<\/h3>\n