By the Rev. Peter Soli, Redeemer Lutheran Church of Alden

Those of you who read the Bible might remember the parable Jesus tells which is often referred to as the &uot;Good Samaritan&uot; (Luke 10:25ff). The parable is intended to answer the question &uot;who is my neighbor?&uot;

Jesus’ answer is that the neighbor is the one who responds and cares for the one who is in need. The Samaritan bandages up the wounds of a stranger he finds along side of the road and brings the stranger to the inn where he instructs the innkeeper to provide additional care as needed &045; he will pay the bill upon his return.

An editorial in the Aug. 10 issue of The Christian Century (Page 5) helped me imagine how this parable might apply to the state of health care in the United States. The editorial concludes, &uot;A conversation on how Americans together can care for their neighbors’ health is sorely needed.&uot; It goes on to point out &uot;genuine care is comprehensive and ongoing, not just occasional. We should think about how things are going back at the inn and find ways to pay for the care.&uot;

As a Christian and as member of the ELCA I take pride in the contributions churches have made to health care. Churches have a long history of building hospitals and nursing homes and making sure they are well run. Today there is less challenge in providing facilities and equipment and a much greater challenge in making quality health care available to everyone in the community. Christians concerned for health care can be particularly confronted by the 44 million Americans who have no health care insurance and the fact that this number is continuing to grow.

We like to think that we have the best health care system in the world but statistics point out that is only half-true. Perhaps it can be argued that we have the best emergency health care in the world. People are not turned away when they show up at the emergency room but they have no way to receive the level of care that might have prevented the emergency room visit.

The cost of health care and insurance is out of control when compared to other industrialized nations. We spend more money on health care than any other nation yet it does not seem to equal better care. For example, in 2000, Canada, Germany, Sweden, and the United Kingdom all had more nurses per 1,000 residents than the United States; Germany, Sweden and France had more physicians; and Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom and France had more beds for acute care patients. (National Coalition on Healthcare Web site). The average life expectancy in the United States ranked 10th after Japan and several European countries. We rank No. 1 in the world when it comes to infant mortality rate and the death rate of 1- to 4-year-olds. Sixty percent of Americans when asked say they believe our health care system needs fundamental change. This is in contrast to Canadians, where only 38 percent are asking for change.

The truth seems to be that we need more than hospitals and doctors who provide the bandaging and emergency care. We need, as the parable suggests, a system that delivers health care to all neighbors, helps to prevent people from getting sick, and provides for care after the emergency.

Health care is a complicated and complex issue. It involves money and resources; it deals with ethical and moral issues; it has political and social dimensions; and discussions about health care often turn into heated, partisan debate.

I believe that we must begin conversations and prayer that will lead to action in this area. We have the teaching of Jesus to guide us. We should not be satisfied until we have a system that provides the needed care (both emergency and preventative) for all. After all, Jesus expects those who follow him to be the Good Samaritan.

It is also the time to listen carefully to Bush and Kerry and to decide which of these two candidates will do more to reform the health care system we have in America. Unfortunately, we all might have to search to get to this issue. It seems that other issues have hijacked our national debate. I am not sure that either the Republicans or the Democrats have a corner on the right plan. What I do know, is that it is time to challenge those running for office to develop a system that provides adequate care for all of our neighbors. We need make sure that attention be given to health care and do it with the same spirit that built many of our finest hospitals and nursing homes.