the pope"health care is an inalienable-right". wwjd

one of the hallmarks of the right wing that is mostly made up of white christians is the attitude of "i have my health care so screw every one else". they are in almost total oposition to the health care plan obama got into law. i wonder how they rationalize this.

the pope has come out for government health care calling it an "inalienable-right-a-moral-responsibility-of-governments".




Pope Calls Health Care An ‘Inalienable Right,’ Urges World Governments To Provide Universal Coverage
At an international papal conference on health care yesterday at the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI and other Catholic church leaders said it is the “moral responsibility of nations to guarantee access to health care for all of their citizens, regardless of social and economic status or their ability to pay.” Saying access to adequate medical care is one of the “inalienable rights” of man, the pope said, “Justice in health care should be a priority of governments and international institutions”:

The pope lamented the great inequalities in health care around the globe. While people in many parts of the world aren’t able to receive essential medications or even the most basic care, in industrialized countries there is a risk of “pharmacological, medical and surgical consumerism” that leads to “a cult of the body,” the pope said.

“The care of man, his transcendent dignity and his inalienable rights” are issues that should concern Christians, the pope said.

Because an individual’s health is a “precious asset” to society as well as to himself, governments and other agencies should seek to protect it by “dedicating the equipment, resources and energy so that the greatest number of people can have access.”

In a separate statement, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, said, “Justice requires guaranteed universal access to health care,” adding that minimal levels of medical care are “a fundamental human right.” “Governments are obligated, therefore, to adopt the proper legislative, administrative and financial measures to provide such care,” the cardinal explained, saying that, “The governments of richer nations with good health care available should practice more solidarity with their own disadvantaged citizens.”

 

I thought you considered all religious people idiots. So now you're quoting one?

 

In my view, and I'm thinking along the lines of my conception of natural justice, governments (democratic ones) do not have an obligation to give healthcare to their needy populace so much as they are obligated to prevent such vast disparities in the first place. Do that, and leave the individual free to to go as far as he wants to, without harming others (tilting the playing field), and we'd have the best of both approaches.

 

I'm happy to hear that the Pope has volunteered to do neurosurgery for free.

 

Everyone has the right and obligation to take care of their own health. Few take on that responsibility and leave it up to someone else.

 

He's a leftist.

 

Instead of the do nothing Republican stand on health care, the Obama administration is doing something about it:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/23/us/23insure.html?_r=2&src=twt&twt=nytimeshealth
The Obama administration issued new federal rules on Monday that will require many health insurance companies to spend more on medical care and allocate less to profits, executive compensation, marketing and overhead expenses.

 

Well yes, that 2-4% profit margin is out of control.

Let's not kid ourselves, Nancy, Obama is trying to get rid of the private insurance bizz so you can deal with TSA agents for your prostrate exam.

Enjoy.

 

Even as a commie I'm repulsed by this degree of interference, with the possible exception of a cap on exec. comp. And of course all barriers to open competition between the insurers, nationwide, must be removed. Perhaps the right model to find a working balance in healthcare is along the lines of that of our semi-private utilities.

 

Notice in the course of all this talk on health care costs, the only area that has been address is the insurance side of it.

I've not heard one discussion on the reason costs are so high- the insurance industry isn't setting the costs of health care...