Rabbi Chuck Briskin
May 14, 2004

Medical Coverage for All

Have you seen those priceless commercials for MasterCard.  I have my own version now:  A month’s supply of diapers, seventy-five dollars; a growing library of parenting books; one hundred dollars; a quick run into Baby Gap to buy a new outfit because he spit up all over the one he’s wearing now, fifteen dollars.  Taking time away from writing this sermon to hold my baby boy, priceless.  There are many things money can buy.  What it can’t are the precious and quiet moments of awe and wonder with my son.

Karen and I are fortunate so far.  Ezra is healthy; he’s growing, he’s a pretty good sleeper and an excellent eater.  He has a strong set of lungs, which he shows off frequently.  My in-laws live near by and can be at our home at a moment’s notice.  We are blessed with a loving family, thoughtful friends and a generous congregation all of whom continue to provide us with much support—not to mention countless offers to baby-sit. 

Yet of all the support we receive, which truly is priceless, perhaps nothing is as important as the medical insurance that our jobs provide for us and for Ezra--tremendously reassuring indeed.

Karen, Ezra and I are among the lucky ones.  Many of us here tonight may take health insurance for granted.  Our jobs provide generously for us and often for our families too.  Perhaps our insurance has paid for a recent operation.  Or it has covered a lengthy treatment of a serious, potentially life-threatening illness.  We may have more faith and confidence not only because we receive moral and spiritual support from this community, but also because we know that our medical insurance will cover us should we fall ill.  We’re the lucky ones.  Consider those who are self-employed, earning a decent salary but still can’t afford comprehensive coverage?  Or those who contribute hundreds if not a few thousand dollars out of pocket each month to cover themselves? 

If our jobs didn’t provide us with insurance it would certainly take a financial toll on Karen and me, but we’d still find a way to pay for it.  I shudder to think what it would be like if we couldn’t afford it.  How would we be able to provide for our son?  How would we be able to take care of ourselves?  Yet I don’t need to look very far to know that this frightening scenario is a grave reality for many in this congregation.

Many of our members have insufficient health insurance and some have no coverage at all.  Some are unemployed, but most are simply working at jobs that don’t provide benefits.  They earn just enough to pay for rent, utilities and food.  For them, medical insurance is a luxury.  It pains me deeply when I counsel a congregant who can’t receive the level of ongoing health care she desperately needs because she is unemployed. 

It is heartbreaking to know that several members of another congregant’s family endure many chronic illnesses and they rely on the generosity and assistance of physician friends who help them get desperately needed medication that they couldn’t otherwise afford.  We discovered last year as part of our research for our Peninsula Interfaith Action rally here at Beth Am that many in our Émigré community have minimal medical and dental coverage.  The Beth Am clergy is fortunate to be able to provide limited emergency support to those whose need is most dire through our discretionary funds.  But in many ways we are simply putting a band-aid on a ruptured artery.

There is an elevated and sustained crisis in our nation’s health care system.  Costs are skyrocketing, comprehensive coverage is more difficult to attain and prescription drugs are unaffordable without insurance.

We’ve heard stories of people denied new coverage because of a preexisting condition.  We’ve had to fight to get approval—not from the doctors, but from the insurance companies—to run an expensive battery of tests.  We’ve lost our jobs and our benefits and can barely afford to pay COBRA, and when that expires we are left exposed, vulnerable and uninsured. Even if we can access rudimentary health care at county hospitals or at a community clinic, we often cannot afford the prescription drugs needed to eradicate the infection. 

Last month, the New York Times Magazine devoted an entire issue to the escalating health care crisis in this country and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton wrote the cover article.  Remember eleven years ago when she introduced a plan for universal health care coverage during the early months of the Clinton administration?  That plan was pilloried and skewered, called too bold for its time, too reckless, too ambitious, and too unrealistic.

Yet Senator Clinton has remained undaunted and she returns to write a passionate analysis of the problems and offers many suggestions on how to fix our broken system.  Many different ideas have emerged from the halls of congress and state governments, from public health organizations, public policy think tanks and the like.  Stanford’s own Dr. Victor Fuchs—a recent guest for a Shabbat Salon talk here at Beth Am—has written extensively, sharing his ideas on how to provide for all Americans.  What he has said, however, is sobering.  He believes that a major health care reform will come to the United States in the wake of a war, a large-scale recession, or large-scale civil unrest.  The problem is that although “two thirds of the American people say they favor universal coverage the minute you start to spell out what that means—subsidization for the people who are poor and sick, and that the plan has to be compulsory—they are less supportive.”[1]  It also means, of course, increased taxes.

We saw eleven years ago how Clinton ’s health care plan distracted his administration.  We don’t necessarily see any real or authentic steps being taken to address this crisis in a large-scale, bi-partisan way, with sweeping reforms and bold initiatives.  President Bush and Senator Kerry have shared their proposals but what are the chances that either plan, when more fully developed could be passed in our current divisive political environment?  Lots of small measures have been proposed, some even enacted but again, these are mainly band-aids—temporary measures to stop the bleeding without healing the wound.  Access to good, quality health care, affordable prescription drugs, and preventative care treatment should be a right and expectation for us all rather than a privilege.

I am certainly not an expert on this issue and trying to decipher the data is daunting.  My feeling is that if Canada and the rest of the industrial world can provide for its citizens, why can’t we?

I don’t have the expertise to propose a solution, but I can look to our tradition to find a mandate rooted in justice and morality that compels us to address this difficult public policy and public health issue in a serious and significant way.  Maimonides, the great philosopher who was also a noted physician teaches “Whoever is able to save another and does not save him transgresses the commandment, ‘neither shall you stand idly by the blood of your neighbor.” (Hilchot Rotzeach, Mishnah Torah 1:14)  And the Mishna teaches, “Why did God begin creation with one person?  To teach that one who saves a single life—it is as if he has saved the world.” (Sanhedrin 4:5)  Jewish communities have always been concerned about the health and welfare of its citizens, providing not only communal tzedakah funds to the poor and destitute, but also access to medical resources.  The physicians in the community who served all would provide this service but they would also be expected to reduce their rates for poor patients in accordance with a traditional understanding of Jewish law.  Many physicians and mental health providers in our Beth Am community have fulfilled this communal obligation by treating many of our members, and others as well, who couldn’t afford treatment for free—a great mitzvah indeed.  The health and well being of all members of the community is a paramount Jewish value that we cannot ignore. 

Why is this all relevant today and why does this message deserve special attention this Shabbat?  Throughout the country this week, business leaders, politicians, faith leaders, community activists and more have joined forces to participate in a national advocacy and awareness project called, “Cover The Uninsured Week.”  Its goal is to focus our attention on the forty-four million Americans, including the eight and a half million children who do not have any health care coverage.  There is so much that needs to be done and the task seems so daunting. But as I’ve learned, especially through my work with our Peninsula Interfaith Action local organizing committee, change can happen.  We can learn more about this complicated issue especially how it affects residents of our towns and counties. 

We can make our voices heard at public meetings.  We can join advocacy organization, write our representatives, and write op-eds for the local newspapers.  We can keep this issue front and center and support political leaders who we believe will take a brave stand on this issue and who are willing to advocate for dramatic and systemic change to our health care system.  We can apply lessons of Jewish tradition to this issue and put our faith and values into action.  Change will not be quick, but it is possible—especially at the local level.  You can take a look at the website www.CoverTheUninsuredWeek.org to learn more about what you can do.  Remember the last words of Hillel’s famous creed:  “Eem lo achshav, eimatai—if not now, when?”

Each night as we put Ezra to bed, Karen and I sing Sh’ma and Hashkiveinu to him.  This is another one of our priceless moments as a family.  I am grateful for the heavenly protection that Ezra receives through these prayers, but also for the earthly protection his medical insurance provides. 

My prayer is that the eight and a half million children and the forty-four million adults who are not covered can someday soon be protected the way Ezra and most of our children are.  May this be God’s will and may we work to make it a reality.

Amen.