Special Report: Healing Health Care

Taking chance of a lifetime for health care
As U.S. political leaders tackle the issue of health care reform, United Methodist News Service has invited several church members, from a former surgeon general to doctors and nurses on the front lines, to offer their reflections. Each of them reminds us to look beyond ourselves to recognize the suffering of others under the current health care system. Their voices alone are not enough, however. The nation and the church also need to hear from you. Read David Briggs’ essay
 

U.S. must move from ‘sick care’ to ‘health care’
The United States has the best of everything when it comes to health care, yet it remains the only industrialized country that does not provide health care for all. Dr. Joycelyn Elders, a former U.S. surgeon general, argues that the nation with 25 percent of the world’s wealth can do much more to provide cost-effective and equitable health care for its people.
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All Americans need health safety net
Dr. Dan Bell, co-founder of a free medical clinic in Eureka Springs, Ark., has 10 suggestions for fixing the American health care system, some of them relatively inexpensive. His ideas include creating a Federal Dental Corps to improve access to dental care and encouraging Americans to have “a serious attitude adjustment” about caring for their health.
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Pray, work for universal health care
Irma Clark, a registered nurse from Chicago, points out that millions of people are suffering while others debate how to make health care more available in the United States. The U.S. health care system must be affordable for those who need it most, she says. For example, “seniors are at a disadvantage when it comes to out-of-pocket costs. There is a lot of pressure when you have to decide whether you should buy a loaf of bread or fill your prescription for blood pressure medicine, and you need both.”
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Family physicians vital to health care reform
Dr. Scott Morris, director of a faith-based clinic in Memphis, Tenn., has a clear picture of where health care in American has gone wrong. He says it is time to stop spending money on enhancing technology, to make patients an active partner in their own health care and to focus on prevention. “The difficult question is not whether there is enough money to pay for health care. Rather, is there enough political will to change the focus from one of fee-for-service to a community-central system that celebrates life?”
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Time is now for health care reform
Dr. Wayne J. Riley, president of Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tenn., says America’s health care system is living through the best of times and the worst of times. Though significant progress has been made in medical research, about 46 million Americans lack health insurance. “We must share this resource called ‘health care’ with those who are the ‘least of these’ among us,” he declares. Read commentary

Church welcomes free health clinic
One Los Angeles-area church is not waiting for Congress to decide how to address the health care crisis. On Tuesday evenings, volunteers transform old classrooms at First United Methodist Church in Glendale, Calif., into a free clinic. Sylvia Lofftus, a former parish nurse, arrives early to coordinate the clinic’s volunteers. “I’ve been to the Philippines on medical missions, but this is so much more rewarding because this is week after week, day after day, working with these patients,” she says.
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