Universal Access to Health Care

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The health care system in the United States is in need of serious systemic change. We call for legislation that will provide universal access to quality health care with effective cost controls.

John Wesley was always deeply concerned about health care, providing medical services at no cost to the poor in London and emphasizing preventive care. The first Methodist Social Creed (adopted in 1908) urged working conditions to safeguard the health of workers and community.

Through its many hospitals and health-care facilities around the world, as well as public-policy advocacy for health, The United Methodist Church continues to declare its commitment to quality and affordable health care as a right of all people.

The concern of The United Methodist Church for health is rooted in our biblical understanding that salvation embraces wholeness of mind, body, and spirit. Jesus revealed the meaning of divine love in his acts of healing for all and the meaning of justice in his inclusion of all persons in the healing and saving power of God. The redemptive ministry of Christ, which focused on healing and wholeness—spiritual, mental, physical, and emotional—is our model for health ministry.

Persons in the United States have been conditioned to expect quality health care. The United States has one of the lowest overall mortality rates compared with other countries. Its medical technology expertise is evident in the many success stories of curing severe illness and prolonging life. The quality of medical training in the United States has also been very high, benefiting those who have access to the services of doctors and other health professionals.

Unfortunately, the excesses of the present system are beginning to erode many of these achievements. Millions of Americans are denied appropriate health care simply because of their economic status and/or disability. Within this group are some of the most vulnerable members of society, particularly children. Even those adults who are working are not spared: a substantial number of those without insurance belong to families with steadily employed workers. Many working people also belong to another large group in danger—those who are inadequately or underinsured.

Not surprisingly, the poor, the aging, women, children, people with disabilities, and persons of color are most at risk in this system. The infant mortality rate in the United States is the worst among the "developed" countries. Black women die from cervical cancer at three times the rate of white women. Black Americans have a significantly lower life-span than white Americans and Hispanics have the least access to the health care system of any group. Native Americans, besides suffering greatly from alcoholism, have a substantially higher tuberculosis rate than average U.S. rates. Recent immigrants who experience health problems find the health care system poorly equipped to meet their needs.

Even persons with middle income have difficulty finding affordable, quality care. Families in which a member suffers from catastrophic illness find their health insurance premiums priced so high they can no longer afford them, or in some cases, insurance is canceled. Businesses are overwhelmed with the cost of health insurance, a problem The United Methodist Church is also facing. The dissatisfaction with the U.S. health system ranks highest among the middle class in many surveys.

The health care system is extremely costly in the United States, consuming more of the gross national product than Canadian health-care costs.

Finally, the providers of health care and corporate America both are unhappy with the present system. Doctors object to excessive paperwork, malpractice suits, and inadequate government programs. Hospitals can no longer stay financially sound under existing policies. Corporate America has called for radical change because our economic position in the world is being eroded by rising health costs. Unions, as well, are unhappy, and a large number of strikes in recent years have stemmed from disputes over health care.

We therefore seek legislation that incorporates the following principles:

Principle 1

We seek a national health-care plan that serves and is sensitive to the diversity of all people in the United States and its territories.

Principle 2

We seek a national health-care plan that will provide comprehensive benefits to everyone, including preventive services, health promotion, primary and acute care, mental-health care, and extended care.

Principle 3

We seek a national health-care plan with an equitable and efficient financing system drawn from the broadest possible resource base.

Principle 4

We seek a national health-care plan that provides services based on equity, efficiency, and quality, with payments to providers that are equitable, cost-efficient, and easy to administer and understand.

Principle 5

We seek a national health-care plan that reduces the current rapid inflation in costs through cost-containment measures.

Principle 6

We seek a national health-care plan that is sensitive to the needs of persons working in the various components of the health care system and gives special attention to providing not only for affirmative action in the recruitment, training, and employment of workers, but also for just compensation for all workers at all levels and for retraining and placement of those displaced by changes in the health care system.

Principle 7

We seek a national health-care plan that promotes effective and safe innovation and research for women and men in medical techniques, the delivery of health services, and health practices.

Principle 8

We seek a national health-care plan that assesses the health impacts of environmental and occupational safety, environmental pollution, sanitation, physical fitness, and standard-of-living issues such as housing and nutrition.

We, in The United Methodist Church, are called to a ministry of healing. Therefore, we challenge our church to:

(1) Support the Interreligious Healthcare Access Campaign and its public-policy advocacy to provide access to universal health care for all;

(2) Educate and motivate persons to pursue a healthy lifestyle, thus avoiding health problems by practicing preventive medicine;

(3) Affirm the role of Christlike care in institutions that provide direct health services by units of The United Methodist Church;

(4) Develop a curriculum model on universal health-care advocacy suitable for United Methodist Church seminaries; and

(5) Ensure that persons representative of the groups most directly affected by inaccessibility to quality health care participate in all levels of efforts by The United Methodist Church directed toward the implementation of a national health-care policy.

ADOPTED 1992
AMENDED AND READOPTED 2000

See Social Principles, ¶ 162T.