wfn.org | Episcopalians: Episcopalians advocate for better health-care system

[dmack@episcopalchurch.org]

April 16, 2003

2003-081

Episcopalians: Episcopalians advocate for better health-care 
system

by Jerry Hames

(Episcopal Life) The inadequacy of the nation's health-care 
system will be the domestic issue upon which the next federal 
election will hinge, Henry E. Simmons, president of the National 
Coalition on Health Care, predicted to about 80 Episcopal 
health-care professionals at a conference in Washington, D.C., 
April 8-9.

Simmons, head of a broadly representative alliance of 93 
organizations working to improve health care, likened the 
current situation to the "Perfect Storm" that occurred in the 
North Atlantic in 1991 that caused millions in damage and the 
loss of many lives. "Such a storm has now formed in our health 
care system; but unlike nature's storm, this one will not abate 
in short order," the physician warned. "In fact, there is no end 
in sight, and there is reason to expect ever-increasing 
intensity and damage.'

Simmons, the keynote speaker for the national gathering "Waging 
Reconciliation: An Episcopal Response to Health Care Barriers," 
described three factors that have formed the equivalent of 
nature's perfect storm.

The first is cost, he said. "Health-care spending is already 
highest in the world on a per capita basis, despite the fact 
that we fall far short of insuring all our citizens." The second 
is decreasing insurance coverage. "The employment-based health 
care system is eroding. Over time, an average of almost 1 
million more Americans are added to the ranks of the uninsured 
each year, most of them from working, middle-class families," he 
said.

The third is poor quality. "Much of the health care we do either 
is unnecessary, inefficiently or ineffectively delivered, or 
outright dangerous," he said. "Lack of attention to quality 
results in waste of more than $500 billion each year."

Response to directive

The two-day conference was a response to the resolution of the 
last General Convention (A079) that called for Episcopalians to 
advocate for a system that will provide "decent and appropriate 
primary health care for all citizens."

The first day was devoted to series of speakers. Participants 
heard from policy makers and experts about legislative proposals 
and the challenges in reforming the health-care system.

"We've been at this for a long time," said Bishop Suffragan 
George Packard, director of Episcopal chaplaincies, as he opened 
the conference. He urged participants "to stand in the shoes of 
the poor those who don't have the dignity of health care." He 
said 41 million people now lack health-care insurance.

The Rev. Michael Stewart, interim director for health-care 
ministries, said the church has been insufficiently organized to 
have an impact. "We need to have information for the 
constituency," he urged.

Democratic Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon described his proposed 
bill to establish a citizens' health-care working group to 
encourage debate about how to improve the system and provide a 
vote by Congress on the recommendations from the debate. "One of 
the biggest barriers to health care is the U.S. Congress," Wyden 
said. "All the problems we are seeing today will be small 
potatoes by the year 2010. All of the problems will be 
multiplied many times over." He said the gridlocked Congress had 
done nothing on health care since the issue was shelved during 
the Clinton administration in 1993-94.

The Rev. Linda Walling, director of Faith Project, a universal 
health-care action network in Cleveland, said new voices must 
take the lead if universal health care is to become reality. 
"There is a particular role here for the faith community," she 
said. Participants spent the final day of the conference 
lobbying their members of the House of Representatives and 
senators and their legislative aides on Capitol Hill to work for 
health-care reform. Legislators accepted 95 of 103 requests for 
appointments on Capitol Hill, said John Johnson, staff member in 
the church's Government Relations Office in Washington, D.C.

For some people, lobbying was a difficult challenge that 
required encouragement. "We have to engage our government, our 
policy makers," urged Marge Kikelly, an Episcopalian and retired 
state senator from Maine. "We are called to do this. We have a 
responsibility to strive for justice and peace."

When meeting with legislators from their constituency, 
Episcopalians urged support for Wyden's bill and full funding 
for the Children's Health Insurance and the Women's, Infants and 
Children programs.

Strategies developed

In the days' final session, participants developed strategies to 
engage others in the church. They urged re-establishing a 
General Convention standing commission on health care and a 
national staff advocate. They discussed ways to encourage 
dioceses to engage society and the government in health-care 
reform.

They discovered through group discussions, poster presentations 
and exhibits a wealth of resources in parish health-care 
programs across the country. "We must celebrate and share these 
with others so they can be replicated in many ways across the 
country," the report from one group said.

If we really wanted to make a difference, and every member 
"adopted" one member of Congress, we could do something 
profound," said another. Johnson said later that the fact that 
Episcopalians came to Washington to meet legislators 
face-to-face was vital. "New relationships were formed that will 
have to be maintained. Not having a voice in Washington means 
you are invisible. Then we're not fulfilling our mission and our 
call."

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For more information, visit: 

www.episcopalchurch.org/episcopal-life/Healing.html

www.episcopalchurch.org/ashapm/health.html

www.nchc.org

http://wyden.senate.gov

--Jerry Hames is editor of Episcopal Life, the newspaper of the 
Episcopal Church.