I have a friend at church whose daughter has cancer. Recently that daughter was informed of impending layoffs. If she loses her job, she loses her insurance. She has a couple years paying outrageous premiums with COBRA—difficult to do if you don’t have a job. And after two years, too bad.

Short of a miracle, if she doesn’t get medical care… I don’t need to fill in the blanks for you, do I?

So the current healthcare system is broken. Can we all agree on that? When my husband lost his job last year, the COBRA premium estimate they gave us for our family of three was $2,000/month. So we’re talking $24,000/year while unemployed. Yarright. When we looked for private insurance, he and my daughter could not even find someone to cover them. And we all consider ourselves in generally good health!

Last year a friend died of cancer, but not before all his friends got together and tried to help pay for experimental meds that his insurance wouldn’t cover. Is anyone adding to the cost of our current system the dollars spent helping our friends?

I’ve heard a lot of complaints about socialized healthcare. And I agree that our government is imperfect. The postal system comes to mind. Still, why am I not also hearing the same fears about socialized libraries, socialized schools, socialized military, socialized Medicaid, socialized Medicare, the socialized highway administration, and socialized fire departments?

I heard someone on CNN yesterday say if someone needs healthcare, he or she needs to go out and get a job to have coverage and work “like the rest of us.” I wonder if that person is part ostrich. It’s really tough to get a job a) in this economy and b) when you’re sick. Not in that order. And our companies are cutting back on benefits while not raising wages.

This is a social-justice issue. No, it is not a human right to have healthcare. BUT in a country as rich as ours, it ought to be an American right. The Bible describes poverty as having nothing to change into when you wash your clothes, and having to earn money before you can buy your next meal. Those of us who have one extra can of tuna or peanut butter and a change of clothes fit this description of “wealthy.” And that’s still true worldwide today. Americans, let’s face it, poor as we may feel right now, are flat-out rich.

Today I received a brochure from the Christian Medical Association stating their organization’s belief in the following:

Healthcare must be…

. Affordable

. Accessible

. Quality-focused

. Prevention-oriented

. Responsible

. Just and fair

. Ethical

I could not agree more. My faith puts a high premium on caring for the poor. And I have a selfish reason for feeling this way, too. I want my friend's daughter to live.