Deal Hudson: "The Problems with Government-Run Healthcare"

Deal Hudson writes at Inside Catholic:

As the White House backs away from the so-called public option in health-care reform, Catholic experts are hopeful that the proposed government control of the nation's medical care will be put aside. They argue that rejecting the public option will better serve a culture of life, maintain the present high quality of health care, serve economic sustainability, and respect the Catholic teaching on subsidiarity.

Though the bishops have spoken out collectively against abortion coverage, only a handful have issued specific warnings against government-run medical services. Two of those are Bishop Robert W. Finn and Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City, who wrote recently, "The right of every individual to access health care does not necessarily suppose an obligation on the part of the government to provide it." Bishop R. Walter Nickless of Sioux City, Iowa, stated, "The Church does not teach that government should directly provide health care."

The Catholic Medical Association (CMA) is on record arguing that, while health-care reform is needed, it should be "achieved by legislation that empowers people to own their health insurance policies (as contrasted with government, or employer controlled healthcare insurance) and using targeted measures to help people who cannot afford the entire cost of their insurance premium."

Dr. Steven White, a former president of the CMA, currently has a private practice in pulmonary medicine and is medical director of respiratory care and pulmonary rehabilitation services at Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach, Florida. He applauds the bishops for their outspoken defense of human dignity in health care, but said, "Informed members of the laity need to help devise a system based upon Catholic moral principles and apply them in the marketplace."

"The last thing we want in health care," White told me, "is for the government to impose a single ethic on us because they hold the purse strings -- we have to separate Catholic moral guidelines for health care from the question of financing it."

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Previous Pro Ecclesia posts on this subject:
Some Catholic Bishops Assail Health Plan

Archbishop Chaput Again: Health Care Reform That Funds Abortion Is Not Common Ground

Fr. Euteneuer's Response to Cecile Richards' Attack On Catholic Bishops

In Face of Planned Parenthood Attack, USCCB Official Insists Abortion is Not Health Care

Mainstream Media Spreads Untruths on Behalf of Obama: Newsday Claims Bishop Murphy Supports ObamaCare; Lies About Plan's Coverage of Abortion

Cecile Richards and Planned Parenthood Attack U.S. Catholic Bishops for Defending Life

U.K. Catholic Rag Admonishes U.S. Bishops: Back Barack on Health Care, Stop Getting "Distracted" by Abortion

Archbishop Chaput: ‘Common Ground’ Claim Will Be Tested by Details of Health Care Reform

Religious Left: Do Not be "Distracted" by Abortion Coverage in ObamaCare

USCCB Prolife Chief Draws 'Lines in the Sand' on Healthcare

American Papist: Follow the Money to Determine Why Catholic Orgs Support ObamaCare Despite Inclusion of Abortion Coverage

Knights of Columbus Pass "Fishy" Resolution Opposing Any Health Care Reform That Funds Abortion

New York Archbishop: Church Will Have No Part in "Health Care" That Destroys Life

Deal Hudson: "Why Catholics Will Not Get Abortion Out of the Health Care Bill" [UPDATED]

Cardinal Rigali "Distracts" from Health Care Debate

A "Loud Silence"

Obama's Nun: Ignore "Insignificant Details", Pass Health Care Bill Now

Bishops Speak Out on ObamaCare