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| Witchvox Chapter: Wren's Nest News | Chapter Page Views: 54,944,501 |
 Healthcare Provision Seeks To Embrace Prayer Treatments Author: Tom Hamburger and Kim Geiger Source: Los Angeles Times Title: HEALTHCARE PROVISION SEEKS TO EMBRACE PRAYER TREATMENTS Backed by some of the most powerful members of the Senate, a little-noticed provision in the healthcare overhaul bill would require insurers to consider covering Christian Science prayer treatments as medical expenses. The provision was inserted by Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) with the support of Democratic Sens. John F. Kerry and the late Edward M. Kennedy, both of Massachusetts, home to the headquarters of the Church of Christ, Scientist. The measure would put Christian Science prayer treatments -- which substitute for or supplement medical treatments -- on the same footing as clinical medicine. While not mentioning the church by name, it would prohibit discrimination against "religious and spiritual healthcare." | |
| Community Thoughts: There are 8 comments posted | Reverse Sort |
| The True Issue Is Christian Science | Nov 4th. at 12:26:19 pm EST |
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Rhiannon Dragonraine (St. Robert, Missouri) - Email Me honestly I think this rider is being put in in consideration for the religion of Christian Science- This theology doesn't believe in going to a Dr. and has been able to opt out of medical treatments and vaccinations for decades- however this healthcare bill also requires EVERYONE to have health insurance and insurance companies require physicals which goes against the christian science belief which if they opt out would make them liable for fines from the government- thus causing government interference in their religion. However irregardless- insurance companies don't pay what is asked by Dr.- I worked in a family practice office and the actual settlement from insurance companies is far below what dr.s ask for- which is why if you have to pay for it yourself the price is outrageous- I agree that the medical feild has gotten entirely out of hand, however on this part of the bill I think that they have done some deep thinking into the far reaching aspects of this bill. But that is just my two cents worth Rhiannnon |
| Little Benefit If Any...... | Nov 4th. at 12:12:40 pm EST |
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bigcat (peoria, Illinois) - Email Me While I agree that there are some benefits to prayer treatments, I still do not believe they should be on any equal footing with clinical meds. Many people already believe that these treatments are an acceptable substitute for a doctor's care--and it does open the door wider for every jerk and charlatan that chooses to use this as a cover for scams. There are many types of treatments that would be better served by a provision, but I believe that if people want to seek any spiritual benefit- it should be on their own. Premiums are already high enough. |
| Let Me Think | Nov 4th. at 7:17:00 am EST |
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Errapel (Lowestoft, England) - Email Me I would be first to argue that prayer and other spiritual healing can at least have a positive psychological effect on a patient, and this may in turn help them recover (or make things more bearable for them) . However I don't think forcing insurance companies to pay for spiritual, prayer or 'alternative' treatments would be a good move. They cannot pay for everything, certainly not while remaining even remotely affordable, so they have to have some policy about what they will and will not fund. A logical policy would be to fund only treatments that have been medically proven to be effective. Relatively few alternative or spiritual 'treatments' meet this criteria (though some do) . While a practitioner of one alternative Theadora might think that the Christian Science 'prayer treatment' is just praying over someone, I know people who've refereed to Reiki as an elaborate pyramid scheme teaching people to visualise a lot and homoeopathy as the selling of magic water and sugar pills. To open the door to one therapy would open the flood gates to them all. The only logical thing I can think of is to restrict coverage to only cover treatments that have been medically proven to be effective. While doubtless this would discriminate against many effective and legitimate alternative therapies it would also discriminate against the fraudsters. Of course I'm not really in a position to judge. Not living in America my grasp of it's healthcare system may be far from perfect. And the healthcare system in my own country already pays for a lot of 'alternative' treatments including homoeopathy, acupuncture and chiropractic. |
| A Slippery Slope | Nov 3rd. at 10:31:21 pm EST |
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KatSai (Chittenango, New York) - Email Me I paid health claims for years (oh, the stories I could tell you!) There is a reason for review boards, FDA testing, clinical trials, licensing and certification - and this is it. Anecdotal evidence of treatment efficacy is NOT proof that it works, no matter how much we want to believe it. If prayer becomes a "covered expense," then any treatment - crackpot or not - is fair game. As one of the multitudes of uninsured (we earn too much to qualify for Medicaid, and the cheapest plan available to us costs more than our rent) I am hopeful for an affordable coverage option. But if schemes like this are included, costs will quickly skyrocket, due to either expensive alternative treatments, or lawsuits when some other unproven, hair-brained "treatment" gets denied. Snake-oil anyone? |
| Sigh | Nov 3rd. at 9:34:04 pm EST |
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Zodiac (Waverly, Nebraska) - Email Me Just one more reason to oppose this mess. |
| Speaking As A Reiki Practitioner | Nov 3rd. at 8:32:15 pm EST |
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Medea (Somewhere, Massachusetts) - Email Me I'm not so sure I like my particular practice lumped in with "Prayer treatments". In my case, it's energy work, utilising the magnetic field which surrounds the body ( scientifically proven to exist) . I'm not praying over my clients. It's something else altogether. Religious faith is not a prerequisite to practice Reiki. |
| Reiki? | Nov 3rd. at 8:01:21 pm EST |
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Ahr-Ohn (Bridgeport, Connecticut) - Email Me Does this mean, Catholic Hospitals could now put Reiki Treatments on the Bill? Psychiatric Facilities could even charge for Dianetics, and the CDC could hire more High Priestesses. A big problem with Health Insurance, is that it assures that Physicians get paid, no matter how much they charge, or for what, if they can find an excuse, so our health care prices are less restrained by what the individual patient can pay, and we get individually packaged antibiotic treatments, where Biodebridement would be more effective. I was just watching the Patch Adams Movie, where Robin Williams makes the point, that Laughter is a medicine of known physiological benefits, but the credibility of Intercessory Prayer is going to take some oddly designed clinicals, since not all pray equally. Of course, they do pay for Psychiatric Intervention, and I haven't heard anything good about those results. Arawn Graalrd |
| This Could Open Floodgate | Nov 3rd. at 6:23:47 pm EST |
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Arie Willow (Sydney, New South Wales) - Email Me And suddenly religion could become a factor in how much you pay for health insurance. The Christian Scientists don't have outrageous fees for their services but I can think of at least one church which does. And after all if you accept one unproven procedure it would be discriminatory to reject another. I guess the big problem is that this kind of thing will be applied unevenly Curches that have efficent lobby groups will have their servies recognised while other laternative theorpies without effective lobby groups will be rejected. On the whole I think that health insurance should be limited to conventional secular medicine. |
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