Taking health for granted

This morning I did something I haven't done for a couple years — I went to the doctor for a check-up.

As far as they can tell, I'm healthy as a horse. (Which makes me wonder which horse I'm being compared to.)

Insurance covered the whole thing. If they would have found something wrong with me, they would have been able to begin treating it now, rather than waiting until it got really bad and I end up in the hospital.

The whole thing — including a tetanus shot which is killing my left shoulder right now — took 30 minutes. I was on my to work by 9:15, glad to check it off my list of "things I need to do."

The thing is, it really wasn't that big of a deal to me. It's just something that you're supposed to do once a year. But for a lot of Minnesotans, health care is a really big deal, because they need it, and they can't afford it.

Toby Pearson addressed this issue in this week's Catholic Spirit. He's the executive director of the Catholic Health Association of Minnesota. In his letter to the editor, he presented six core values that should set the statewide health care debate:

1. The health and well-being of each person is intertwined with the health and well-being of the broader community. Access to healthcare is an essential element contributing to the common good, alongside others such as education, employment and a safe environment.

2. The measure of our society is how we treat the poor and vulnerable, who are particularly marginalized by a lack of access to health care.

3. Our societal resources are finite, and we must make wise choices for how they are allocated. Health care resources should focus on the well-being of the community and be structured to deliver the care that is most medically beneficial and promotes public health.

4. Health care is a basic human right alongside food and shelter, all of which are necessary for individuals to participate fully in society.

5. The health care system should allow and encourage involvement of the public and private sectors including voluntary, religious and not-for-profit organizations, and it should respect the religious and ethical values of patients and health care providers alike.

6. Health care is essential to promoting and protecting the inherent dignity of every individual from conception to natural death.

"If we take these core values under consideration during our debate on health care, we will have a better product at the end of the day," he wrote.

What do you think? Leave a comment and start the conversation.