This letter to the editor appeared in the Suffolk News-Herald on July 6:
To the editor:
The Senate bill to repeal and replace the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) creates uncertainty. Both domestic and global financial markets abhor uncertainty.
The longer this process drags on, the more the ACA will be undercut by a Congress unwilling to repair it.
In a recent meeting, the James River Chapter of the Virginia Interfaith Center hosted a faith community panel composed of Jewish, Muslim and Christian leaders, who affirmed common values that embody compassion for our neighbor.
Government exists in part to ensure that all human beings are treated according to these shared values as illustrated in the Bible, the Quran and the Torah.
The proposed health care bills before Congress do not reflect these values. This bill in its current iteration does not acknowledge the basic needs of the elderly, indigent and the generally disenfranchised.
There is well-grounded concern about the potential impact of this legislation on the poor, the elderly not on Medicare, Medicaid recipients and the 400,000 Virginians who have no health insurance at all.
This legislation is especially punitive for the rural hospitals, which are threatened with closure, because there is no insurance base to support services.
We ask our senators and representatives to take note of these human concerns. We expect these deliberations to reflect a bipartisan effort to care for all citizens.
This decision may have a greater impact on the lives of all Americans than any other in our lifetime. Let’s make this effort a “win-win,” not a “win” for one side and a “loss” for the other.
From the Planning Committee of the James River Chapter, Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy. Signed by:
Tony Conyers
Rev. Charles Swadley
Rev. Anthony Fludd
Dr. John Whitley
Dr. Karen McPherson
Seneca Bock
Diane Langhorst
Dr. Wayne Moyer
