Health Care Reform: Upheld

Dear friends, This morning, in a 5 to 4 decision, the Supreme Court voted to uphold the Affordable Care Act. Now the question is: What does that mean for us?

We're not sure.

Like every free clinic around the country, the staff and volunteers at HH have been watching the ACA drama since it started in 2010. Obviously, this will affect us in a BIG way. Most of our patients still cannot afford medical insurance; they will simply be roped into an expanded Medicaid program. At that point, under the current Medicaid rules, our volunteer providers will be unable to treat them.

We're not sure what that means for us. Dental is not covered under the current Affordable Care Act, and neither is chiropractic care. We also know that there will be a lot of confused people thinking that they have free insurance somewhere but not sure how to access it. There will be a significant shortage of providers able to absorb the newly created patient volume. It will be messy.

How do we show the love of Christ in this mixed up situation?

Let me be clear, here. There is a lot of dissension surrounding Obama-Care - within clinic staff and volunteers, our partnering churches, even within some of our families. I think that disagreements like this are important, even healthy, in order to progress. But as a clinic, we have no official stance on health care. We simply want the best for our patients. We simply want to be where God wants us to go, speaking about His hope and love to everyone, insured or not. And what's great about His Hands is that we can unite behind that common goal and leave the politics behind.

So, what does the Supreme Court's decision mean for us? For the short term, very little. For all we know, it could be struck down tomorrow! And no matter what government does, there will always be people who fall through the cracks.

What it means is this: We pray, pray, pray for God's guidance - for us and for our government. And we keep moving forward.

His Hands on the news!

On KCRG last night... quick clip about His Hands!

Spirituality and Health

I listen to NPR every morning - and this morning, on my way to work, Talk of Iowa focused on spirituality and its affect on health. Apparently, a study done last year "found an 18% lower mortality level for patients who had higher rates of spirituality or religiosity." According to Charity Nebbe (and based on what I remember from the broadcast!), that's pretty close to the same percentage of benefit that you get with changes in your diet and exercise.

As Christians in healthcare, we KNOW that faith makes a big difference. We see it every day.

But it sure is nice to have some scientific support!

You can check out the broadcast here: http://news.iowapublicradio.org/post/religionspirituality-and-its-impacts-physical-health.