Muncie Times, Muncie, Delaware County, 4 December 2003 — Page 38

Page 38 • The Muncie Times • December 4, 2003

WITNESS FOR JUSTICE

Health care for all demands involvement of

all Americans - I think ifS’ a train wreck waiting to happen. Yet our elected officials and candidates for office seem to be putting it on the back burner. It impacts every single American, whether we know it or not. It's costing our nation, our families and our businesses a fortune. It's an ethical and moral catastrophe. I’m talking about our health care dilemma. A train wreck about to happen. Look at the warning signs. In the past year alone, 2.4 million more Americans are without health care coverage-the largest increase in a decade, partly due to increasing unemployment. But it was partly due to the fact that the costs for most health care plans rose 14 percent in 1

year. Indeed, Americans today are paying 50 percent more for their health care coverage than we did 3 years ago, so even if our wages are rising many of us are taking home less pay. Businesses, especially small businesses - our nation's employment backbone - find themselves having to choose between cutting health care coverage for employees or eliminating positions. Employees find themselves reluctant to change jobs because of health care concerns. Meanwhile, smaller hospitols are being forced to close. Doctors find it impossible to get affordable malpractice insurance, and in some states, it is diffcult to find an obstetrician or

other medical specialist. Why, in the richest nation ever in the history of the world, are there people who cannot go to the doctor if they are sick? Healthe care is a right due to every one of the world's citizens. So why is our health care tied to our employment? Why don't we really do something to really create jobs by taking health care costs away from employers? The answer is simple. We could change this system if we wanted to. We could change this system so that every American is automatically covered from birth until death. We could change this system and still have a cheaper, more effivient and effective health care system. We could change this

Bernice Powell Jackson

system if every single one of us insisted -- no demanded -- of every candidate for every office in the United States, be he or she. Democrat or Republican, that we change this insane health care system and change it now. We could change this dysfunctional health care system if we wanted. We can demand change - or we can just sit

back and wait for the train wreck. Bernice Powell Jackson is executive minister of the United Church of Christ's Justice and Witness Ministries. You can contact her at 700 Prospect Ave, Cleveland, OH 44115-1110 or by calling (216) 736-3700.

66 A Walk Through Bethlehem” Living Nativity Friday, December 12 and Saturday, December 13, 2003 From 6:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. Gethsemane United Methodist Church 1201 W. McGalliard in Muncie Characters in costume will re-enact the night of Jesus’ birth, accompanied by several live animals in the field on the southwest side of the church. Admission is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served in the church’s Fellowship Hall.