Rev. Hurmon E. Hamilton, Jr. President of the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization and Sr. Pastor of Roxbury Presbyterian Church USA, wonders why the state makes a distinction between legal immigrants and legal citizens when it comes to health care:

And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? Matthew 16:26 (New Living Translation)

In my last blog post, I joined the voice of GBIO to that of Cardinal O’Malley and the Roman Catholic Church in asking the administration and legislative leadership – in a time of deep budget cuts – to take a deeper breath, dig deeper and find the means to provide health care coverage to over 28,000 legal, tax-paying immigrants. A couple of weeks ago this is exactly what happened. The administration and legislature, with generous support from Partners Health Care and courageous commitment from Celticare, provided coverage for not 28,000 but for almost 31,000 legal immigrants. On behalf of GBIO leaders and institutions as well as all who love justice in our Commonwealth, I congratulate those noted above for finding a way.

There are however, real limitations to the coverage that the Commonwealth has been able to provide. Most disturbing is the requirement that struggling consumers pay $50 co-pays on all brand name prescription drugs. Read more…

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: Psalm 23:4 (King James Version)

Perhaps no other Scripture of sacred text better describes these perilous times in which our Commonwealth finds itself on this very day. His Eminence, Cardinal Sean O’Malley, eloquently describes this dangerous economic valley through which we are traversing in his July 24 blog: “The Governor and the Legislature in the commonwealth face excruciatingly difficult choices this week. Final decisions about the budget bring together the fact of an economy in deep recession, declining state revenues and multiple human needs among the citizens of the commonwealth.” The Cardinal continues, “A particular issue of concern to me is the possibility that funding for health coverage for 28,000 legal immigrants may be cut in whole or in part….The commonwealth has done a very commendable job of providing health care to the citizens of Massachusetts. It would be a tragic mistake to let these 28,000 members of our community lose access to the precious good of health care.”

“Yea, though [we] walk through the valley of the shadow of death. . .”

“A tragic mistake” the Cardinal says. I would, respectfully, like to expand on the Cardinal’s accurate assertion, “a tragic mistake.” I would go a step further and say a “catastrophic mistake.” With the bottom out of our economy, our state political leaders are faced with many horrific challenges. Tremendous cuts in every area – disabilities, mental health, elderly, public safety, HIV&AIDS, public education and the list goes on and on and on! Indeed, the implications of many of these cuts are captured by the word, “tragic.” But to cut 28,000 legal immigrants access to health care is beyond tragic – it is a catastrophic mistake. Here is why. Read more…

“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ “He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” Matthew 25:44-46 (New International Version)

Jesus teaches us in the passage above that the quality of one’s character and faithfulness is measured by how one treats the “least of these.” I might add that the character of our Commonwealth is measured, not by how we treat the hungry, sick, imprisoned, stranger (i.e. immigrant), homeless, elderly – the “least of these” during times of budget surplus, but rather how we treat them during times of scarcity. Who is expendable? Who do we delete from the budget, without a whimper?

Surely this is the test that our State senate is facing at this very moment. A few days ago, this august body of dedicated individuals released a State budget that threatens disastrous consequences for the “least of these” throughout our Commonwealth. Read more…

One day the Pharisees and Sadducees came to test Jesus, demanding that he show them a miraculous sign from heaven to prove his authority. He replied, “You know the saying, ‘Red sky at night means fair weather tomorrow, red sky in the morning means foul weather all day.’ You know how to interpret the weather signs in the sky, but you don’t know how to interpret the signs of the times!
Matthew 16: 1-3 (New Living Translation)

Every Sunday morning I see the signs of the times, when I look out on to the faces of my congregation. Worry weighs upon their glorious faces and their eyes shout out a chorus of unanswered questions: Will I have a job tomorrow? How will I support my aging parents? How long can I pay the mortgage? Can I afford to go to college? Will we be able to pay our staff this month? The fear of what tomorrow might bring is robbing them of the joys of today. Amidst this seemingly endless song of worry is a life saving, beacon of hope: Massachusetts’ Chapter 58 Health Reform law! It has given a father the care he needs to recover from a stroke, a grandmother the emergency surgery that saved her life and a mother the prenatal care needed to protect her unborn child. For many, health reform has given them a safety net to survive in the midst of life’s storms.

The current times require that we not falter in interpreting the economic signs that surrounds us. Read more…

Psalm 145:1-7 (The Message)
God is magnificent; he can never be praised enough. There are no boundaries to his greatness. Generation after generation stands in awe of your work; each one tells stories of your mighty acts. Your beauty and splendor have everyone talking…Your marvelous doings are headline news.

At approximately 11:00 p.m. November 4, 2008, a new hour commenced in America, as this country elected its first African-American President. On this past Sunday, in a Jubilant Service, I preached from Revelations 5:8, “And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.”

The prayers referred to in this text were those of the martyrs, which remained before the Lord. In that spirit, I thought of the millions of African-Americans, and the many others on our behalf, who died over the centuries with unanswered prayers for justice, equality and vindication. So on behalf of all those who now live beyond all time and space, I thank all of you who worked to prepare America and who voted on behalf of America’s future and answered the prayers that lingered in Golden Bowls.

There is another reason why this is a magnificent hour for our nation and for our Commonwealth. The new President-Elect is committed to transforming the Massachusetts’ Health care experiment into answered prayers for 45 million Americans who this very moment are uninsured. Read more…

And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s. And they marveled at him. Mark 12:17

When Massachusetts legislators passed our landmark health reform legislation in the spring of 2006, they left unresolved two critical questions, open to interpretation through regulation. One, what constitutes affordable and credible coverage for individuals for the purposes of deciding who is subject to the individual mandate? Two, what constitutes a fair and reasonable contribution for employers for the purposes of deciding which employers are subject to the $295 employer assessment? In the first case, the decision was left to the 11 member board of the Connector Authority, chaired by the Secretary of Administration and Finance. In the second case, the decision was left to the Division of Health Care Finance and Policy, under Commissioner Sarah Iselin and Secretary JudyAnn Bigby. For both critical decisions, it has fallen to the Patrick administration to sort out what amount is fair, reasonable, and affordable for both individuals and employers to contribute towards health care costs. This is no easy calculus.

The debate over what constitutes affordable and credible coverage has been robust and protracted. And because the Affordability Schedule has been tied to the premium schedule for Commonwealth Care, this debate promises to be renewed on an annual basis. Read more…

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” Isaiah 6:8

On the evening of May 27, 2008, 1700 leaders gathered at Boston University to celebrate GBIO’s tenth year anniversary. On the stage that night was Governor Deval Patrick, Speaker Salvatore DiMasi, Mayor Thomas Menino, and Mr. Jack Connors – Board Chairman for Partners Health Care. In the audience were scores of city counselors, State administration officials, and key leaders from health care, business and insurance industries. As President, I had the honor and duty of laying out a vision for the next decade that would offer a framework for meeting the public policy challenges that lay ahead, together.

In my challenge to the gathered leaders and allies, I argued that this framework is found both within the words of sacred text (noted above) and in the word we so often throw around, “Commonwealth.” Simply put, the vision we are called to embrace going forward is “shared power”, “shared responsibility” and “shared sacrifice!” Those of us who share the power to make public policy must also lead in the sharing of responsibilities and sacrifices required to sustain public policy. Nowhere is this fact more evident then in this current phase of Massachusetts’ landmark healthcare reform.
See here and here for Parts 1 and 2 of my challenge to the leaders of Massachusetts and our allies.

Yesterday’s lead Globe editorial states the challenge in clear terms, Read more…

This evening, Tuesday May 27, GBIO will convene its membership at Boston University’s Chase Gymnasium for a conversation with Governor Deval Patrick, House Speaker Sal DiMasi, Boston Mayor Tom Menino, and Jack Connors representing the larger corporate community of our state (former chairman/CEO of Hill Holiday) at GBIO’s “Shared Power, Shared Responsibility & Shared Sacrifice” Assembly.

These key leaders will be joined by a wide array of members from both State Legislative Houses, City Counselors, Corporate, Philanthropic, Healthcare, and Insurance industry leaders. Surrounding these will be the largest gathering of Christians, Jews and Muslims in the Commonwealth since 9/11. This seminal event will also commemorate the organization’s 10th year anniversary, and will focus on two commitments from elected officials, as well as our Corporate and Health Care allies. First, GBIO wants a commitment to sustained long term financing for health care reform. As we all know, the Massachusetts initiative was born out of an unprecedented partnership and has become an unprecedented success: 340,000 previously uninsured residents now have health insurance in the private market. However, because most of these families are the working poor, the required state subsidies could be in excess of $200 million more than the administration originally budgeted. Read more…

Afterward Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holy days. Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches. Crowds of sick people—blind, lame, or paralyzed—lay on the porches. One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?” “I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.” Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!”
Instantly, the man was healed! John 5:1-9 (New Living Translation)

As we celebrate the second year anniversary of health care reform in our Commonwealth, I often think about the Christian story noted above. Oh, how it summarizes the “Wonder” of Chapter 58! Read more…

Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping— Romans 4:18a (New Living Translation)

Recently, the word” hope” has been batted around on the national stage like a new tennis ball in a Wimbledon Grand Slam Tennis Competition. But in a few weeks, Massachusetts will celebrate a powerful undisputable symbol of “hope” – the second year anniversary of Chapter 58. Two years ago, those who had hoped, prayed and worked for quality universal healthcare, even when there seem to be no reason to hope, rejoiced over our new healthcare law. Two years later, this new, experimental law is itself a “hope” – an “endangered hope” – yet to be fully realized in an environment of escalating medical cost, deteriorating economic realities, and an expanding index of human greed.

Last week, this “endangered hope” was almost mortally wounded when the Connector considered loading onto the backs of the poor, sick and most vulnerable indefensible hikes in premiums, co-pays and out-of-pocket maximums, while ignoring insurers, employers and hospitals as possible solutions to the growing financial challenge of funding this reform. Dangerous!

Thankfully, the Connector delayed its vote until later this month. Read more…