When it comes to healthcare reform, listen to our bishops!

Bishops have a wise vision for our healthcare.

The bishops of the Church in the United States have sent a letter to all 100 senators, asking them to be mindful of their concerns when drafting a replacement for Obamacare. Now with replacement bills proposed in both the House and Senate, we can compare the bishops' request with the proposals from both chambers of the legislature.

LOS ANGELES, CA (California Network) -- On June 1, the bishops of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) sent a letter to all 100 senators regarding plans to repeal and replace Obamacare. They have asked the senators to keep a few things in mind.

Included are requests to ensure adequate access to healthcare, the recognition that healthcare is a human right, and the importance of defending life and respect for religious freedom.

Liberals and conservatives have been at odds over healthcare reform for decades. However, both sides have a number of issues wrong. The Church, whose focus is on the person, their dignity and the sanctity of life, has a unique position that does not fit either side. Yet, a logical consideration of the Catholic position on healthcare reveals it is the only just and appropriate way to go.

In their letter, the bishops outlined six important things to keep in mind when drafting a replacement.

1.    No Affordable Care Act repeal effort should be undertaken without the concurrent passage of a replacement plan that ensures access to adequate health care for all.

2.    Respect for life: No health care reform plan should compel us or others to pay for the destruction of human life, whether through government funding or mandatory coverage of abortion.  Long-standing "Hyde Amendment" protections must extend to any relevant health care plan in order to prevent federal funding of abortion and not as a temporary fix or future promise.  Federal resources must not be used to assist consumers in the purchase of health care plans that cover abortion. 

3.    Access for all: Reform efforts must begin with the principle that health care is not a privilege, but a right in keeping with the life and dignity of every person.  All people need and should have access to comprehensive, quality health care.  Reform efforts should consider people's differing circumstances and ensure access which is in accord with their means.  Every individual and family must be able to see clearly how they will fit within and access the health care system in a way that truly meets their needs, and immigrants must be included among them.

4.    Truly affordable:  Many lower-income families simply lack the resources to meet their health care expenses.  The Bishops have serious concerns about structural changes to Medicaid that would leave large numbers of people without the coverage they now rely upon, including those who gained access to care as part of the Medicaid expansion that came with the ACA.  Reform also ought to address barriers to affordability for those living above the poverty level but who are still working hard to make ends meet. 

5.    Comprehensive and high-quality:  Health care is much more than mere insurance.  Other aspects of health care policy require the attention of policy-makers:

Access provided in national health care policy needs to focus on the maintenance and promotion of good health as well as treat disease and disability for all people, regardless of means;

Incentives for preventative care, early intervention and maintaining a reasonable choice of providers--whether they be individual providers, groups, clinics or institutions --are all part of a comprehensive approach that can help ensure high quality;

Our system should encourage individuals to develop a sense of ownership over decisions that affect their health and well-being;

Approaches that encourage people to enter medical professions, and which foster more humane and responsive relationships between doctors and patients should be pursued.

6.    Honoring conscience rights:  Congress should expressly provide conscience protections for those who participate in any way in health care.  Such protections should extend to all stakeholders, including patients, insurers, purchasers, sponsors, and providers.

In reviewing the proposals from both the House and Senate Republicans, it is clear they have not received the message. President Trump even labeled the House proposal as "mean." And the Senate proposal does not appear to be a significant improvement. Both proposals, while doing more to protect the unborn, will also result in millions of people losing coverage.

Only in the United States do we deny healthcare as a right, demand people pay the full cost of their healthcare while inflating prices by making it one of the largest for-profit industries. We continue by paying wages that are so low in relation to healthcare costs that most people are wiped out by a single misfortune.

A Catholic approach could solve all these problems. Recognizing that healthcare is a right means we must invest to hire doctors and nurses to provide care on a contractual basis that ensures they are paid justly and treated fairly. By removing the profit from the industry, or at least be regulating it, we can significantly cut costs the same way most of the world has done. Profit may be appropriate in some instances, such as when developing new medicines, but there must be guidelines to ensure that earnings are ethical and people are not profiting from perpetuating, or exacerbating pain, or bankrupting others.

Finally, workers must earn enough to pay for their own care. If care is affordable and wages suffice, then it is the responsibility of each person to budget for their needs. Still, there should be dignified, quality care for all people, no matter what.

As Catholics and as human beings, we have a responsibility to one another. At any time, any of us could suffer misfortune beyond our imagination, a disaster that puts us in need. In that moment, we will be grateful we advocated for a system that helps everyone.

We are our brother's and sister's keepers. What we do for the least, we do for Christ.

Let us call upon our leaders to live up to this truth, or let us elect those who will.