Health Care for the Poor (2002)

WHEREAS the Torah teaches us that we have the obligation to heal the sick Exodus 21:19) and that "the obligation to heal the poor devolves upon the community as well as the physician"; and

WHEREAS the cost of administering Medicaid falls upon the states; and

WHEREAS low income individuals and families are likely to forego health care due to the soaring expense; and

WHEREAS COBRA insurance, which provides healthcare coverage for unemployed workers (as explained in the attached document), is not available to 2/3 of these workers since their employers (very small businesses) were not required to provide COBRA, and few low-income unemployed workers can afford to pay the full cost of COBRA premiums, usually several thousand dollars a year.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism call on the Federal government to increase its share of funding Medicaid programs to expand health care for low income people; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism support the expansion of CHIP - the Child Health Insurance Program (as explained in attached document) - to include the parents of those children and that the United Synagogue call on the Federal government to subsidize COBRA premiums and to provide transitional health insurance for those not currently eligible.