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Healing Miracles

The Rev. Dr. Jennifer Copeland, Executive Director · July 7, 2017 · 2 Comments

Just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Woman, you are set free from your ailment.”  — Luke 13:11-12

The House health care plan would leave nearly 24 million people without health insurance; the proposed Senate plan “only” 22 million. The numbers are so staggering we lose sight of their meaning, but consider the Research Triangle Region (Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill) has an estimated population of 2 million. That’s how many people represent the difference between the House bill and the Senate bill. Assessing the Senate bill, we find that of those 22 million left uninsured, 1.3 million of them are in North Carolina (slightly larger than Mecklenburg Co.) and 2,300 of those are children (roughly the size of a large high school).

The numbers, even when we make them fathomable, are not the real story. The real story is taking $800 billion dollars from Medicaid to fund an $800-billion-dollar tax cut for high income Americans. Nearly half of Medicaid enrollees are children, 65% of nursing home residents receive Medicaid, and almost half of Medicaid dollars go to the elderly and disabled. In essence, people who earn roughly $12,000 will lose Medicaid coverage because people who earn $200,000 or more will no longer pay a 3.8% tax on their investment income. Note, that’s investment income, not all income. Just 3.8% on investments.

The Old Testament prophets, echoed by Jesus, lament the accumulation of wealth on the backs of the poor. Or, in the words of another great religious leader: “A nation’s greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members.”

If these health care proposals move forward, we can expect 200,000 preventable deaths over the next 10 years. Will you be one who dies unnecessarily? Or will you be one who keeps an extra 3.8% of your investment income? Given those choices, which one would you vote for?

Filed Under: Blog, Homepage Featured Tagged With: Aging, Children & Youth, Economic Justice, Good Government, Health, Healthcare Reform, Mental Health, People with Disabilities, Religion & Society, Taxes

The Rev. Dr. Jennifer Copeland, Executive Director

About The Rev. Dr. Jennifer Copeland, Executive Director

Jennifer is a native of South Carolina and an ordained minister in The United Methodist Church. She loves South Carolina, but has managed to spend all but ten years of her adult life in North Carolina. Those ten years were spent pastoring United Methodist churches across the Upstate. She attended Duke University several times and in the process earned a BA, double majoring in English and Religion, a Master of Divinity, a PhD in religion, and a Graduate Certificate in Women’s Studies. Prior to coming to the Council, she spent 16 years as the United Methodist Chaplain at Duke University, where she also taught undergraduate and divinity school classes, served on committees and task forces, and attended lots of basketball games. Jennifer has two children, Nathan, a software developer who lives in Durham, and Hannah, a student at the University of Tampa.

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Comments

  1. AvatarAdam Sotak, NC Child says

    July 12, 2017 at 2:38 pm

    This is a truly immoral piece of legislation. Thanks for calling other faith leaders to speak out against it.

    Reply
  2. AvatarSandy Irving says

    July 9, 2017 at 8:09 pm

    Thanks for this message of truth.

    Reply

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