“Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.”
Psalm 85:10 (King James Version)

On February 14, 2008 – Valentine’s Day, the Commonwealth Connector Board will meet to amend the 2008 Affordability Schedule. On the day many people pause to remember promises and re-affirm commitments – the Connector Board members will be presented with an opportunity to remember and re-affirm the promise made last year: the state will not penalize individuals and families in the Commonwealth who cannot afford to purchase the health care – how appropriate.

Weighing in the balance of the Connector’s Valentine’s Day decisions will be families struggling to survive amid record foreclosures, plummeting house values, expanding personal debt and growing unemployment. It is vital that the Connector not add to the misery index of these families by assigning financial penalties because these same families cannot find affordable health care. No, hopefully, in the words of the Psalmist, “Mercy and Truth” will both have a seat at the Connector Board meeting on Valentine’s Day.

Truth demands that we understand the necessity for an affordability schedule which holds individuals responsible for ensuring their own health – and we do. Mercy, however, urges that the Schedule shifts, slightly, only to accommodate the 2008 change in the federal poverty level. Read more…

What can I give back to God for the blessings he’s poured out on me? I’ll lift high the cup of salvation—a toast to God! I’ll pray… I’ll complete what I promised GOD I’d do, and I’ll do it together with his people. … I’m ready to offer the thanksgiving sacrifice..”
Psalm 116:15-19 (The Message)

During this Thanksgiving holiday season, we in Massachusetts, have much for which to be thankful. As it relates to healthcare, over 200,000 residents of this state, who were previously uninsured, now have quality health insurance through Commonwealth Care or MassHealth. This is due in no small measure to the historic and bold efforts of state officials, businesses, community and religious groups responsible for the creation of Chapter 58.

Laverne Barnes, a leader in my own church, now has quality insurance through Commonwealth Care and was able to receive a life saving surgery several months ago. She represents the many across the Commonwealth for whom affordable, accessible, quality Health Insurance has truly meant the difference between life and death. Surely among the 200,000 previously uninsured are those who would lay claim to the words of the Psalmist, “I’ll lift high the cup of salvation – a toast to God!” I would add a toast to all who worked so hard to make this historic reform possible, and a toast to all who are working so hard on enrollment and implementation. Read more…

Know, O people, the LORD has told you what is good,
and this is what he requires of you:
to do what is right, to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with your God.
(Micah 6:8, New Living Translation)

For the past month, GBIO leaders have been holding Outreach and Enrollment Sessions for our members throughout Greater Boston. These sessions give us direct contact with uninsured residents struggling to secure their own health. By conducting these sessions we are learning several important lessons about health reform and the challenges that lie ahead.

Lesson 1: This law is helping many people get access to quality health insurance.

Here are just two stories that highlight this success:

Sabrina Knights is a family child care provider in Dorchester. She has three children on MassHealth but is uninsured herself. At a recent Outreach and Enrollment workshop organized by GBIO and the American Family Child Care Network, she was surprised to find out that there was a new option for her, Commonwealth Care with a $35 a month premium. After the session she visited her local health center to apply. She’s waiting to hear the results, but they look positive.

Pat Maye-Wilson from People’s Baptist Church is currently between jobs and uninsured. She is in her late 50’s and wants and needs health insurance that can allow her to access to vital prescriptions and doctor visits. After attending a session at her church, she discovered that she is most likely eligible to enroll in Commonwealth Care and recently submitted her application.

Lesson 2: Lots of people do not understand their new obligation under the individual mandate.

While many people have heard about the new law, few people have yet had the opportunity to think about how the new law will affect them, what new programs they are eligible for and if they will face a financial penalty for not having insurance. This is a brand new concept and the residents of the state need additional education about how this law affects their families. Read more…

“When we were at Mount Sinai, the Lord our God said to us, ‘You have stayed at this mountain long enough. It is time to break camp and move on. Go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all the neighboring regions—the Jordan Valley, the hill country, the western foothills, the Negev, and the coastal plain. Go to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, and all the way to the great Euphrates River. Look, I am giving all this land to you! Deuteronomy 1:6-8a (New Living Translation)

Sunday afternoon September 9, 2007, sixty-five Greater Boston Interfaith Organization clergy and lay leaders gathered at the Roxbury Presbyterian Church USA to kick-off GBIO’s Fall Healthcare Outreach and Enrollment Campaign. In a sense, our gathering was in response to the call, a Divine Call for us to “break camp” and “move on”. We have returned from our various summer resting places, full of Spirit, energy, and excitement – ready to join with others across the state in reaching out to the uninsured and encouraging them to enroll in Commonwealth Care or Commonwealth Choice before the deadline of our new individual mandate – January 1, 2008.

During this high-energy training and breaking camp session, GBIO leaders were treated with some excellent teaching about how to help people evaluate their options. There was a testimony from someone recently enrolled in Commonwealth Care as to the importance of our work. And there were resource packets distributed so that everyone has the written information they need to complete their job. But perhaps, most important, was the unbroken flow of inspiration and encouragement that called us to break camp, move on, advance knowing that this outreach work is important and blessed in the eyes of God. Read more…

“Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.” Mark 12:41-43 (New International Version)

Through the lense of this powerful text, what can we observe about the current contributions being tossed into the treasury set aside to fund healthcare reform?

GBIO leaders, who have been knocking on doors this summer letting people know about the new healthcare law, have begun to discover an answer.

In our work we have encountered three kinds of people at the door.

(1) Those who are insured through their employer, through MassHealth or are new Commonwealth Care enrollees.

(2) Those who are uninsured, most of whom will qualify for Commonwealth Care.

(3) Those whose employers offer them coverage, but it is too expensive, and remain uninsured.

This last group of people is the most difficult, because we have absolutely nothing to offer them.
Read more…

Like many organizations across the state, the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization (GBIO) is preparing to do its part in what we hope will be a comprehensive, collaborative and well-funded state-wide outreach and enrollment effort to ensure that every uninsured person in Massachusetts learns about and takes advantage of their new options for quality, affordable insurance.

This work has already begun for Commonwealth Care with impressive results: 125,000 people — children, families, and individuals, young, middle age and in their late 50’s, from Boston to Lynn, to Haverhill, Dartmouth, out to Pittsfield — have enrolled in quality health insurance since the passage of Chapter 58 last year! What a great day – Let us rejoice and be glad in it!

Last week, a GBIO organizer reported an experience she had visiting a nearby community health center. Read more…

“Enlarge your house; build an addition. Spread out your home, and spare no expense! For you will soon be bursting at the seams. Your descendants will occupy other nations and resettle the ruined cities..” Isaiah 54:2-3 (New Living Translation)

What a beautiful text for talking about this strategic moment in the unfolding history of Massachusetts Health Care Reform. The historic Bill has been passed, requiring significant commitments from state government, employers and individual citizens of our Commonwealth. A fair affordability schedule for our state’s new individual mandate law has been agreed upon. The forces of the Connector Board, community based organizations like GBIO, and some from the private sector have aligned on mark and are now set to go! The trumpet has been blown and the news has spread all across the Commonwealth, “Enlarge the house of healthcare coverage. In fact, build an addition. Spread out your home and spare no expense!” Expectation is high, questions regarding the complexity of the Individual Mandate, affordablility schedules, 125 pre tax accounts, waivers, Silver plans, Bronze plans abound! But we, those who have accepted the charge of outreach and enrollment, are ready. Wait! Shocker of shocks. The funds needed to do effective outreach and enrollment (part of the government’s commitment) have suddenly been cut by both the Governor and the House FY08 budgets! In fact, these funds have been cut over 75%. Of the 35 organizations funded across the commonwealth to help residents understand, apply and enroll, most will lose their funding on June 30, just as health care reform kicks into high gear on July 1! It is as though the administration and the House has said, “The hard work of crafting reform is finally over. Thank God!” Then they turned to those of us committed to doing the equally hard work of outreach and enrollment and said, “I am sure you have a magic wand! Just wave it and the rest of the uninsured will come running into the house with all of their questions magically answered!” “As for us,” the government seems to be saying, ” we must be spared from the expense of such insignificant activities”.

Well, we have no magic wands! Read more…

GBIO represents tens of thousands of people of faith – Jews, Christians, and others – and we have had faith during the past two and a half years as we have worked to help bring health insurance to the uninsured of this state. Now, writing in the language of my own Christian tradition, I must express my crisis of faith in Massachusetts health reform. Read more…

Two and a half years ago, the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization (GBIO) began to discern whether we should engage in a campaign to expand access to quality, affordable health care to the more than half a million residents of Massachusetts who were, at that time, uninsured. This discernment led us to affirm that everyone is precious and deserving of healing (Genesis 1:27). We recognized that our calling is not only to preach but to act for the health and wholeness of our community (Matthew 9:25). And we affirmed what the 12th century physician, philosopher, and theologian Moses Maimonides taught — that a public system of health care is the moral obligation of any just community. Read more…