Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Healing the Sick is Humanly Possible, Paying for it Takes a Miracle

I'm not certain if other countries have to deal with this or not, but something i'm noticing here in the States is that, for some of us, we have less fear of dying of illness than we do of drowining under medical bills.

Recently, when i hear about someone in the hospital, I almost feel more burdened to pray that their insurance will cover everything than i am to pray that they'll recover. Why? Recovery is almost taken for granted. We have such incredible medical care available that few things are beyond our ability to heal. But our system of paying for it is all out of whack. We have people who are so afraid of the medical bills, that they refuse treatment. In some cases, people will incurr huge costs and still end up dying, leaving their family with the burden. In other cases, a person might recover physically, but lose their home and life savings in the process. Add this to the possibility of having lost his or her job because of inability to work, and you can see how we can be more scared of the bills than of death.

But i feel guilty being more concerned about a person's finances than their health. But in a system like this, maybe its appropriate. I can't imagine hearing a pastor praying for the sick on a Sunday morning, and then having him also pray that God would provide the money for their medical bills, but that day might not be far off.

Lord, if you are willing, you can fix our healthcare crisis.

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