James 1:27- Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world (TNIV).

For the past two weeks when I log onto my Facebook for iphone, I see all the status updates on the national health care plan.  Both sides have taken a stand which seems to me that a compromise will not be reached.  Both sides have used religion to defend their cause as well.  My feelings are very much in the middle of the issue and of course are longer than the 140 characters Twitter allows.

Currently, I am working at an inner city school in Oklahoma City.  95% of the students or more receive a free or reduced breakfast and lunch.  School supplies are not mandated because most families could not afford it.  I guess that a majority of the students probably wear the same uniform all week.  I see the working poor everyday.  I know that a national system of health care would greatly benefit this population the most.  The little boy who ran out of his asthma medication wouldn’t have to wait until mom found another job to pay for it.  The little girl who cannot get the glasses she needs to see the board because her father who is working three part-time jobs yet doesn’t have money or insurance for the eye doctor.  The twin boys with rotting teeth cannot go to the dentist because they come from a family of six.  These are cases in which having some kind of national health care would help.  America would be treating others the way all want to be treated.  I could be behind something like this.

However, I have concerns.  These concerns rise up out of a sense of obligation for others.  For me, part of it comes from my religious background and from the idea of social justice.

My first concern is for the elderly.  In the verse I posted above, “widows in their distress” calls me to look after the elderly.  It can be tough in American being over 65.  Imagine your weekly salary gone and now having to rely on social security and Medicare.  As a country, due to the baby boomer population we are now faced with the fact that for the first time we will have a large population of elderly.  During the passing of the stimulus bill, Tom Daschle’s feelings on the elderly were made known.  Daschle expects the elderly to realize that they have health concerns due to the aging process.  Ok, I can accept that.  Baby boomers put down the botox and stop sucking the fat away from your bodies.  It happens, accept it.  What concerns me is this quote:

“Daschle says health-care reform “will not be pain free.” Seniors should be more accepting of the conditions that come with age instead of treating them.”[1]

What does this mean?  If my aunt, who is currently on social security and Medicare, was now placed on a national health care plan, fell, hurt her hip, went to the doctor, and then was told her hip injury wasn’t bad enough to warrant a hip replacement, how long would she have to wait?  Would she be told that the hip would be need to degenerate more to qualify for surgery?  Or is this a condition of old age and she should accept it and not treat it?  It terrifies me where we are going with a sense of duty and compassion towards the elderly in our society.  I already feel that we don’t respect them enough to begin with and now we are going to reduce their health care plan to one that basically will for many a "hurry up and die plan.”

Second, I want to know what is put into place so that there will not be abuses to the plan.  Many people who are considered poor often do things in a fraudulent manner to obtain more money.  Last year, I had the unfortunate incident of overhearing a parent tell a child to fail the IQ test at the doctor.  I knew as the child’s teacher that it was because they were trying to have the child qualify to have social security money sent to the family for care.  There was nothing about this child where they would qualify.  Due to the parental coaching, this child stopped working in class and went from high Cs to ridiculously low F’s.  This is a blatant example of people using the system, which should help people, for their own gains.  President Obama and Ms. Sebelius, what are you putting into place so that health care is not abused like all our other government progressive programs?  Please do tell.  I am concerned that my students may be misused for other reasons.

Finally, I am concerned about the fact the government wants to allow abortions on the health care plan.  Personally, I don’t agree with abortion as I feel it is taking another human life.  In spite of this, that is not why I am against the government paying for abortions.  What concerns me is that while President Obama and others have all along claimed they want to make the United States a more equal country, this has overtones of ‘Survival of the Elite Classism.’  Who are the people that will probably end up on the national health care plan?  That is right, not the people who can afford their health insurance premiums and have the ability to pay for pregnancy preventive items.  The people that would end up on the health care plan will do so because it their most affordable option.  Again, I think about some of the families I know at my school.  Imagine a single mother with three kids.  She is a member of the working poor, only making $12,000 per year.  She finally has gotten all three kids into school full time so she doesn’t have to pay as much for day care and sitters.  However, she just found herself pregnant.  Her national insurance plan covers abortions and she makes the decision to go ahead and have one because she just cannot afford another child.  What does this mean for our country?  Oh good, we got rid of another poor person.  They probably would have grown up to fill a jail cell.  The thinking behind allowing abortions may not be as diabolical, but you have to admit, it does sound like the United States may become one giant upper class in the future.

Overall, I am concerned about the national health care plan.  What once was a cause of social justice for me now has me concerned about the true morality in our country.  If we do want to provide health care for all do not penalize a person based on age or financial status. Make sure that the system cannot be abused by anyone.  Don’t have the loopholes that are in other programs, such as social security and welfare.   Provide the elderly with the kind of care you want to have as a future senior citizen. I know that all of us would find it inhumane to ask someone to wait for the care because the condition wasn’t serious enough or it is a cause of the normal aging process.   Instead of covering abortions, maybe the health care plan could cover the cost of pregnancy preventive items.  Often that is why pregnancy occurs in this day and age- people either don’t have the knowledge or money to pay for the items.  If those changes could be made, then I would be 100% behind the national health care plan.

Last week, during my excursion to New Mexico with L, we listened to two audio books.  One was Practical Handbook for the Boyfriend, A: For Every Guy Who Wants to be One/For Every Girl Who Wants to Build One by Felicity Huffman and Patricia Wolff.  It was full of things to make us laugh at how ridiculous men and women are in the dating game.  For example, the authors donated some time to explain exactly how men should try to dress and the etiquette of farting in a relationship.  (It also contained a very um, interesting section on the Birds and the Bees, which we did not listen to in its entirety.  We may need filling in on this issue later.  Perhaps on our wedding days to our husbands.)  

One chapter that I thought was interesting was the part about men wanting to change their significant others.  The authors related a story about a man who told his friends that after he married, he was going to have his wife lose weight.  Of course, if you know me, then you know my feminist side was outraged.  What a jerk!  The authors then pointed out that if the potential GF was not all he wanted, then he should move on.  While pondering these things, I realized that as a person, I have such shallow feelings.  In fact, these feelings are so strong I decided to make a “list” of qualities I wanted in a future mate.  I was talking with L about the list before the trip and I felt it didn’t feel right.  (I still don’t.  Maybe it is because I put things on there like, “Taller and older than me,”  “Wears glasses because I do,” “Loves OU or KU” and “No Hobbit Feet.”  Yes, I did have some Christian qualities, and I do maintain that if you aren’t pursuing a relationship with Jesus, you probably shouldn’t apply.)   I think it is that I am exactly what Huffman and Wolff recommend men should do.  And that my friends, is not a good thing.  How many people have I passed on because of something superficial, something that could not change?  Instead of looking at a potential BF as a “fixer-upper,”  I probably should take advice from the Piano Man and say, “I love you just the way you are.”

“I saw you last night and got that old feeling…”