We all need that miracle

By Tony Staley
Compass Editor

It's hard to say which would rank as a greater miracle in the United States: the tremendous strides made in medicine in the last 50 years or being able to afford that care.

Of the 44 million Americans without health insurance, eight out of 10 live in a household where at least one person works.

With this dismal record in mind, Chicago Card. Francis George called on legislators, health care institutions, business leaders, pastors and parish leaders to work together to craft policies to provide health coverage for all Americans.

Catholic, Protestant, Jewish and Muslim leaders also issued a joint "call to care" as part of "Cover the Uninsured Week."

The religious leaders said they were united in their concern for the sick "because Jewish teaching holds that 'if you save one life it is as if you have saved the world'; because Muslim teaching instructs us to 'help one another in righteousness and piety'; because in Christian teaching we read, 'Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.'"

It's a national embarrassment, an international scandal and an insult to God that our abundantly wealthy nation does not follow the example of far less affluent nations and provide health care for all people.