It is obvious that Jesus and the Bible do not directly address the controversy over the effort to repeal Obamacare, officially known as the Affordable Care Act (ACA). But, as people of faith, like with any issue, we can draw conclusions from what the scriptures say about topics which are as relevant today as they were millennia ago at the edge of the Roman Empire: the care of the needy, the worth of money, and interacting with government.
Care for others
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. Philippians 2:3-4
The Bible tells us that we have a responsibility to care for others. Specifically it calls on believers to share with those who are in need.
Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Romans 12:13
This is not care for the deserving, or care for the holy, or care for those who help themselves. Value others. Share with those who are in need. I don’t think any need is clearer than the need for health. Nevertheless, by any measure, the ACA offers the most help to people who might be called deserving. It includes subsidies and an expansion of Medicaid to allow hard-working Americans to buy healthcare coverage. These are people who have jobs, who make too much money to be covered under the original Medicaid levels, but still little enough money that they would otherwise be forced to choose between healthcare and housing. It prevents insurance companies from denying healthcare coverage to people with common conditions: allergies, asthma, diabetes.
Don’t Steal from the Poor and Give to the Rich
The ACA, Obamacare, has been the law of the land for two years now. If the ACA is repealed, 24 million Americans will lose their access to healthcare. But the wealthiest Americans will receive a tax cut.
John the Baptist was very clear about how much we should be willing to give up to care for others:
‘What should we do then?’ the crowd asked.
John answered, ‘Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.’ – Luke 3:10-11
The ACA, as it stands, does not ask for such an extreme sacrifice. Anyone who has two thousand shirts should share ten of them with those who have none.
Money Should Not Be Our Priority
Some Christians have put forth arguments in opposition to the ACA. I won’t link to them here because I find them largely disingenuous. One is the argument that it is not our place to help such people because their suffering brings them closer to Christ and that should be our primary goal as Christians, a repellent and vile premise. How often do you see one of these withholding medical care from their loved ones or lobbying for the closure of hospitals in order to increase suffering and bringing Americans closer to Christ? Jesus did more than suffer on the cross. He healed the sick.
Another common position when the law was up for debate was that we as Christians should work to help those who are suffering, but we should not place that suffering onto another. This premise is self-evidently flawed. It equates the loss of health with the loss of money. The Affordable Care Act is not a machine born from dark magic that transfers tuberculosis from the poor onto the rich. It simply costs money. And, the Bible it turns out is very clear about the relative value of money. This is not an argument against healthcare. It is an argument against taxes and on behalf of wealth. Since Jesus tells us very clearly to pay our taxes that argument does not have a strong foundation in the scriptures. And moreover, now that the Obamacare, the ACA, is in place, poor Americans have access to healthcare. Repealing it would be inflicting suffering on the poor – taking away their health benefits – in order to aid the wealthy – giving them a pile of cash.
Whoever loves money never has enough;
whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income.
This too is meaningless.As goods increase,
so do those who consume them.
And what benefit are they to the owners
except to feast their eyes on them? – Ecclesiastes 5:10-11
Perhaps the most common rationale for repeal is the idea that although it is worthy to help people in need of healthcare, it is not the proper role of government to provide healthcare. I don’t actually disagree. But the role of government has nothing to do with Christianity. How often did Jesus consider someone’s role when they had good work to do? He took a tax collector and fishermen and put them to work serving God. The argument goes that we should leave caring for those in need to private charities. Unfortunately, private charities have proven themselves to be insufficient, in part because the Americans with the most money prefer to keep it.
The ACA is by no means perfect. It is not my preferred solution. If the new government can find a method to provide more and better healthcare to those in need of it, I am all in favor of that. But until they do, they must not take this away from the millions of Americans who need it. That isn’t conservative. It isn’t Christian. It’s simply cruel.
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ ”
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