Religious leaders don't like Timmy 'no tool's' health care plan.

[Demrock6]

Finally we have some moral values in our court!

Last update: January 31, 2005 at 7:16 PM
Religious leaders oppose plan for MinnesotaCare
Patricia Lopez, Star Tribune
February 1, 2005 HEALTH0201


Summoning the passion of the pulpit, the Rev. John Estrem gripped a lectern on Monday and joined other local religious leaders in decrying health care service cuts proposed by Gov. Tim Pawlenty, saying that the state's long-standing commitment to the less advantaged is in jeopardy.

"We are about to tell the struggling waitress juggling three jobs that her efforts are not enough for us to help with her health care," said Estrem, CEO of Catholic Charities of Minnesota and a parish priest. "Where is our conscience?"

The leaders, all part of the Joint Religious Legislative Coalition (JRLC), said they will start a campaign through their congregations, which could reach more than 2 million Minnesotans, aimed at rejecting Pawlenty's proposal to scale back access to MinnesotaCare, the state's subsidized health insurance program for lower-income workers. The proposal would make childless adults ineligible, along with some parents who now qualify.

Brian Rusche, executive director of the coalition, said the churches had decided to take action because "the governor's budget fails the moral standards of decency, human rights and compassion" by cutting benefits for low-income Minnesotans.

Rusche said that more than 41,000 Minnesotans would lose coverage under Pawlenty's plan, in addition to the 38,000 dropped in 2003 cuts. The state Human Services Department has estimated that nearly 27,000 Minnesotans would find themselves ineligible for MinnesotaCare by 2007 under Pawlenty's proposal.

Some of them could qualify for Medical Assistance or General Assistance Medical Care if they spent down their assets.

In releasing his budget proposal last week, Pawlenty said such actions were necessary to head off the double-digit cost increases projected for health care in 2006-07. Even with proposed cuts in coverage, Pawlenty said, his budget would only hold the increases to 15 percent instead of 18 percent.

'We need revenues'

But Rusche, Estrem and others said on Monday that Pawlenty's solution is unacceptable.

Bishop Craig Johnson, of the Minneapolis Area Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, said: "We can do much better than a blunt ax to the last coverage available to vulnerable people."

Rusche said the state has come to the point where "we need revenues on the table. We need a tax increase that's explicit and honest" to deal with budget problems. "We can't do it with shifts and gimmicks any longer."

The JRLC is the state's largest interfaith organization, representing the Minnesota Catholic Conference, the Minnesota Council of Churches, the Jewish Community Relations Council and, just recently, the Islamic Center of Minnesota.

By contacting the combined 2.2 million members, Rusche said, the organization hopes to mobilize enough support to stop the proposed service cuts and create a groundswell for a budget solution that includes revenue increases as well as spending cuts.

While Pawlenty's proposal solves the projected shortfall in the state's general fund, Rusche said, it shifts the problem to hospitals dealing with increased charity care and ultimately to insured Minnesotans, who wind up paying higher premiums.

"We have to have a broader vision for the state than just the general fund," Rusche said.

[katinmn]

1. This is great!

Rusche said the state has come to the point where "we need revenues on the table. We need a tax increase that's explicit and honest" to deal with budget problems. "We can't do it with shifts and gimmicks any longer."

Ha!

Perhaps if Pawlenty would give up on his business welfare pet projects we could afford to start to address healthcare needs and the need for more funding for schools.

[MinnesotaMike31]

2. Wow! This really needs more media play!!!

I especially like this part... "they will start a campaign through their congregations, which could reach more than 2 million Minnesotans, aimed at rejecting Pawlenty's proposal to scale back access to MinnesotaCare..."

[Lydia Leftcoast]

3. Yes, my priest was talking about that on Sunday

He sees it not as a political matter but as a matter of common decency.

[katinmn]

4. Hey, Mike!

Good to see you back.
How are things going?

[dflprincess]

5. Healing the sick is a coporal work of mercy

I would expect most churches to see this as a social justice, not political issue. Apparently, whatever brand of Christianity Timmy No Tool subscribes to doesn't teach this.