Much has been said and written since Joe Wilson's outburst in which he shouted "You lie!" after President Obama said that health-care reform would not extend coverage to illegal aliens.
Democrats point out that the president didn't lie because section 246 of H.R 3200 states, "Nothing in this subtitle shall allow federal payments for affordability credits on behalf of individuals who are not lawfully present in the United States." Republicans counter that without status verification (like a national ID card) the provision will be difficult if not impossible to enforce.
What seems to be at issue here is relative levels of commitment to excluding illegal immigrants from health care. Nobody's arguing for including them. Why is that? How is it that this country, once the world's foremost champion of human rights, is last among developed nations to accept health care as a basic human right?
Rep. Wilson is a supporter of teacher-led school prayer in our public schools. Christianity is central to the "traditional values" that inform his stand on issues -- Christianity, the religion whose namesake proclaimed, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
How is it, then, that in the classroom, Christianity is the applicable traditional value, yet, when it comes to caring for the poor and sick, Mr. Wilson turns away from the teacher who chastised the money changers for turning the temple into "a den of thieves"? Profit is the traditional value Mr. Wilson applies to caring for "the least of these." It might be interesting and informative to see how many senators and representatives who support school prayer also oppose a public option for health care.
This is not to suggest that we should ignore legitimate security, legal and economic concerns, throw open the borders and extend full rights of citizenship to everybody who makes it into our country. We have an obligation to look out for our national interests. We are right to try to control immigration and to deport those who violate our sovereignty. But how is it good health policy to deny care to sick people regardless of their legal status?
I worked with a gentleman for several years who didn't have health insurance. One Friday morning he asked me to take him home shortly after we got started. I didn't think that much of it. People get sick. Still, it was out of character for him to miss work, and I should have suspected that something was really wrong.
In fact, he was admitted to the hospital later that day as his condition continued to deteriorate. Over the next couple of weeks, he got so bad that a priest administered last rites. At one point he actually flat-lined. He wound up spending months between Moore Regional Hospital and the hospital at Chapel Hill and several more weeks in physical therapy in Pittsboro.
In all, hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent, and a good man (a son and a father) was nearly lost to a condition that could have been diagnosed and treatment begun in the course of a $100 physical.
That's the price we pay when people lack access to health care. In my friend's case, it was diabetes. But for another uninsured person -- whether it is because of poverty, the loss of a job or because of one's legal status -- it might be hepatitis or swine flu.
In cases of infectious diseases, all people who leave conditions untreated for longer than they would if they had access to affordable care raise the level of risk for an entire community. You don't have to know them, you just have to use the shopping cart after them in a grocery store or pick up a box in an aisle where they coughed at the pharmacy.
Health care should be regarded as a right, and that right should exclude no one -- not the poor, not the unemployed and not even those who lack legal residency. We should do this because we are morally compelled to and because it is in our own best interest. It is the right thing to do.
Kevin Smith lives in Aberdeen. Contact him at kevinasmith@gmx.com.
This is not to suggest that we should ignore legitimate security, legal and economic concerns, throw open the borders and extend full rights of citizenship to everybody who makes it into our country. We have an obligation to look out for our national interests. We are right to try to control immigration and to deport those who violate our sovereignty. But how is it good health policy to deny care to sick people regardless of their legal status?
I worked with a gentleman for several years who didn't have health insurance. One Friday morning he asked me to take him home shortly after we got started. I didn't think that much of it. People get sick. Still, it was out of character for him to miss work, and I should have suspected that something was really wrong.
In fact, he was admitted to the hospital later that day as his condition continued to deteriorate. Over the next couple of weeks, he got so bad that a priest administered last rites. At one point he actually flat-lined. He wound up spending months between Moore Regional Hospital and the hospital at Chapel Hill and several more weeks in physical therapy in Pittsboro.
In all, hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent, and a good man (a son and a father) was nearly lost to a condition that could have been diagnosed and treatment begun in the course of a $100 physical.
That's the price we pay when people lack access to health care. In my friend's case, it was diabetes. But for another uninsured person -- whether it is because of poverty, the loss of a job or because of one's legal status -- it might be hepatitis or swine flu.
In cases of infectious diseases, all people who leave conditions untreated for longer than they would if they had access to affordable care raise the level of risk for an entire community. You don't have to know them, you just have to use the shopping cart after them in a grocery store or pick up a box in an aisle where they coughed at the pharmacy.
Health care should be regarded as a right, and that right should exclude no one -- not the poor, not the unemployed and not even those who lack legal residency. We should do this because we are morally compelled to and because it is in our own best interest. It is the right thing to do.
Kevin Smith lives in Aberdeen. Contact him at kevinasmith@gmx.com.
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