August 20, 2009

DIOCESE OF EAST TENNESSEE – A discussion guide for churches regarding healthcare coverage for all is available on the web site of the Diocese of East Tennessee. The guide, created in conjunction with resolution C071, "Healthcare Coverage for All," adopted by the 2009 General Convention of the Episcopal Church, encourages each congregation to provide education to its members concerning the Christian basis for universal health care coverage.

The bioethics committee of the diocese began discussing the topic of healthcare coverage about 18 months ago, just before it became an issue in the presidential primaries, said committee chair Glenn Graber.

Bob Strimer, a recently retired physician and chair of the diocesan Peace, Justice and Outreach Committee of which bioethics is a part, said, "The first meeting I went to was the first meeting at which the bioethics committee was talking about the Christian responsibility to support health care for all."

Graber, a professor of ethics at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, said the committee is comprised of people who are familiar with issues concerning health care – issues Strimer knew well. "In my experience as a physician, the more the years went by, it became more and more obvious how difficult it was to treat people without insurance. Pharmaceuticals and [diagnostic] tests are increasing costs for physicians in the office; it's part of the whole mix of how decisions are made," Strimer said.

A member of St. James Church in Greeneville, Tennessee, and active in the church's outreach ministries, Strimer talked about who is affected by lack of health insurance. He said he helps distribute food to homebound people – mostly elderly – most all of whom have health insurance. "The older folks have Medicare and the poor have Medicaid. The population that is more affected is the working poor – those who are working every day but can't insure themselves or their families. As Christians we're asked to take care of those in need," he said. The number of uninsured in the U.S. was reported to be 45.7 million Americans in the Census Bureau publication on income, poverty and health insurance coverage released in August 2008.

In response to the tremendous need for health care coverage, the Bioethics Committee authored resolution C071, "Health Care Coverage for All," which was passed by both houses of the General Convention. The resolution, raised up by a delegate from another state during discussion as an example of a resolution that can benefit the entire church, encourages each congregation in the Episcopal Church to provide education to its members concerning the Christian basis for universal health care coverage.

Strimer said, "It is our duty to become informed and make a rational choice based on what you learn, and advocate – strongly advocate – with your elected officials for the health care you think is best. The education guide is aimed at advocacy – for a good health care system based on what you learn."

With C071, the diocesan Bioethics Committee produced a three-session curriculum, Health Care Coverage for All: Discussion Guide for Churches, on universal healthcare to be made available to the entire Episcopal Church, and promised to distribute it without cost to the church. The curriculum, being distributed electronically to provinces and dioceses of the Episcopal Church, provides an outline for the three sessions along with suggested resource materials.

Session 1: Why health policy is a Christian concern

Session 2: Personal encounters with the health care system

Session 3: What we can/should do?

The Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee, led by Bishop Charles G. vonRosenberg, encompasses an area of approximately 14,350 square miles. The diocese is comprised of 45 congregations and five worshiping communities servicing nearly 16,000 active members.

Diocese of East Tennessee bioethics committee members are: Glenn Graber, chair, the Rev. Canon Stephen Askew, Elisa Barr, Jerry Burgess, Bill Farnham, the Rev. Harry Howard, James Johnson, the Rev. Anne Lecroy, the Rev. Bob Leopold, Tupper Morehead, Laura Sell-Phipps, Robert Strimer, Mary Talbird, Pete Walburg, Bill Waldrop.

Episcopal News Service