Complex Factors, Indeed

My heart is full this morning.  Please forgive me as I wax a little political.

I have had the Affordable Health Care Act on my mind a great deal lately.  Actually, since the program was implemented.  I have struggled with my desire to help the poor and my deep concern that this may not be the way.  I loved a post my friend, Les Bishop, contributed to facebook that captures my internal struggle.

I rejoice in those who posted on her feed that their lives are genuinely better because of ACA.  However, I feel it is unsustainable, as is shown by the increasing number of people that fall outside of the line of those who "qualify."  We are starting to "run out of other people's money."  I do not feel that this means we should turn our back on the poor.  I love how Les put it, "I would gladly give my money so someone else could afford to pay for cancer treatment."  Someone expressed their concern with ACA in her feed as follows:

And then there is the 'gap', where my single friend 61 years old and working a physically demanding job as well as taking care of her 88 yr old mother, has fallen. She can't afford the premiums her company is now requiring and certainly can't afford any individual policy, yet does not qualify for coverage under the ACA. I don't know if there is an answer for everyone.

 To which Les eloquently replied:

I wonder what will happen to your friend under whatever new health care laws come around? Or what might have happened before the ACA. There is no easy fix, certainly. There is not a panacea. As is true in everything, complex factors are at play. The world is not black and white, problems are not black and white, solutions certainly aren't black and white.

So what is the solution? Certainly it is not to turn our backs on those who are less fortunate for us. With these questions in mind, I listened to "The Challenge to Become," an excellent talk by Elder Dallin Oaks:

It may seem to be unrelated, but a story he shared caught my mind:

A parable... A wealthy father knew that if he were to bestow his wealth upon a child who had not yet developed the needed wisdom and stature, the inheritance would probably be wasted. The father said to his child:

“All that I have I desire to give you—not only my wealth, but also my position and standing among men. That which I have I can easily give you, but that which I am you must obtain for yourself. You will qualify for your inheritance by learning what I have learned and by living as I have lived. I will give you the laws and principles by which I have acquired my wisdom and stature. Follow my example, mastering as I have mastered, and you will become as I am, and all that I have will be yours.”

Now, I don't mean to speak condescendingly at all, so please don't read that into it.  In a sense, the government is the "wealthy father."  The willing hearts of so many Americans represent his desire to give all that they have to help the poor.  However, so much of what is willingly offered is wasted.

For instance, I watched my crying infant who had a possible elbow out of his socket and calculated, "Is it worth the $1500 it will cost us to take him to the emergency room...or can I remember how to put it back into place?"

Does this same hesitation occur when the health care is 100% provided by the state?

We pay a large premium each month that is steadily rising which we hardly use because it is the cheapest possible program (little actual coverage) to be on and still be "insured."  Two one hour visits of Hava to the emergency room for stitches last year equaled over $2000 out of our pocket. I am not complaining.  We obviously could pay for it.  But is this same mentality of "only use the health care if absolutely necessary" being practiced by those who pay nothing for it?

I have a sweet friend in my life who is poor. She has a heart of gold but has had a hard life and really struggles. She participates in four food-assistance programs and regularly runs out of food.  When I take her to the store, she normally comes out laden down with bags of meat and soda pop, luxuries my family does not purchase in our budget.

I have another friend who regularly takes his family out to eat with his welfare money to restaurants my kids have never set foot in.  Does this make sense? I am not sure. They have told me, "I'd rather not pay for my heating if the government can do it for me."

I love these friends, I do. I don't see that this system is truly helping them though, and it certainly doesn't have education and accountability as part of it.  How to educate and provide accountability?  I believe that is the question that will help us see real solutions.  I love the WIC program.  The carrying out of that program is pretty close to what it should be,I believe.  There is a little more latitude in what they can purchase than is probably necessary, but there is a beautiful education process that happens with it and specific needs are being met.

Yes!  Keep providing resources for those who cannot afford it.  But let's come up with a way that is sustainable and lifts the poor up out of the circumstances and doesn't just feed them in it.  I have seen it in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons) in their distribution of welfare.  I wonder how or if we could somehow recreate that in our government.

Please, let us reach out and help for the poor.  But let's do it in a way that really helps them and is sustainable.   Les hit the nail on the head:

There is no easy fix, certainly. There is not a panacea. As is true in everything, complex factors are at play. The world is not black and white, problems are not black and white, solutions certainly aren't black and white.

I pray for compassion and charity as I see this issue and the people behind it: that mentality is essential to come up with a truly Christian, a truly God-like solution.  It is not to turn our backs on the poor, those beautiful, struggling people around us.

I just don't see how the current system is working and can keep "working" for those who feel it is.   Perhaps we need to shift money away from other areas of our government to sustain it while we figure out how to implement accountability and education into our programs?  Ach.  As Les said, complex factors indeed.

As a parting thought, I would like to share a video that helps us remember our responsibility to not judge the motives and actions of those who are less fortunate than we are: