 Posted Wednesday, March 24, 2010 1:16 PM
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As opposed as I am to CS, I think under the constitution they have a strong case. It will be interesting to see if TMC has the guts to pursue such a challenge.
Thanks, Linda.
John
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Posted Friday, March 26, 2010 6:20 AM
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| The Amish and Christian Scientists are the only two religions exempted from having to buy health insurance. Under the Constitution they have a strong case, I agree. However, I think these exemptions open up the door for other religious groups to challenge being required to buy insurance as well because there are things they find objectionable in the bill. Abortions for example, I'm sure there are other things.
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Posted Friday, March 26, 2010 7:42 AM
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Anonymous March 26, 2010 @ 8:20:02 AM,
The Amish and Christian Scientists are the only two religions exempted from having to buy health insurance.
Perhaps we are about to see a spurt of church growth and buggy sales.
Do Go Be Man
<><
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Posted Sunday, March 28, 2010 9:20 AM
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Thanks for the chuckle Do Good.
Helping One Out
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Posted Sunday, March 28, 2010 9:32 AM
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Do_Go_Be_Man (3/26/2010)
Anonymous March 26, 2010 @ 8:20:02 AM,
[quote]Perhaps we are about to see a spurt of church growth and buggy sales.
Ha Ha! I wonder if buggy driving Amish are required to carry vehicle insur.
this is getting off topic but I hate the fact that americans will be required to buy health insur. I hope that one part of the bill will be addressed and tossed. Seems un-american to me.
I tried when I was in cs, to get our insurance to pay for my cs treatment many times but found that none of the many practitioners I employed had any way of billing blue cross. Trying to get reimbursed for practitioner 'work' was impossible since the invoices I received from practitioners were always a simple statement of an amount due for'sevices rendered'.
blue cross requires a little more documentation and some sort of itemized statement.
Oh well. Money down the drain in my case. No healing and wasted time and money. I felt worse after treatment due to self condemnation and draining of my families bank account!
born free
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Posted Monday, March 29, 2010 12:45 PM
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That's interesting, born free. I remember when I got a job in 1979, I told the Human Resources office that I wanted to be exempted from health insurance on religious grounds. But they pointed out that Blue Cross covered CS practitioners. I never actually tried to collect, though.
Ann
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Posted Monday, March 29, 2010 12:48 PM
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"The Amish and Christian Scientists are the only two religions exempted from having to buy health insurance. Under the Constitution they have a strong case, I agree. However, I think these exemptions open up the door for other religious groups to challenge being required to buy insurance as well because there are things they find objectionable in the bill. Abortions for example, I'm sure there are other things."
Anonymous:
Are you saying that the Health Care Bill signed into law definitely exempts CS and Amish from having to buy health insurance? This is the first that I have heard of this.
John
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Posted Monday, March 29, 2010 2:32 PM
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| There was a 'religious concience' exemption in both the House and Senate versions of the bill, which I haven't heard were removed. I was listening to talk radio the other day when CS and Amish were listed by name as the only two religions who were exempt and I thought it was strange that they were the only two because I'm sure there are others out there that will object to the mandates.
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Posted Monday, March 29, 2010 2:37 PM
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| I'd have to check the legal language, but TMC usually tries to get language inserted which such as, "an officially recognized religion and its authorized practitioners." This restricts the religious exemption or privilege to pretty much just them. As an old-school citizen, I find this unconstitutional, in that it effectively protects/selects just one religion or church, and thus "establishes" and officially recognizes that church. Consider, for example, the standards for conscientious objector to the draft: the claimant has to be able to articulate an established, long-standing, and ethically consistent based objection to all wars. If the Obamacare law allows any person to present an articulate, personally practiced avoidance of medical practice, then I would be happy to see CS'ists take advantage of it. But it has to be able to include believers in other non-medical systems, including such beliefs as shamanism, witchcraft, Scientology, etc.
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Posted Monday, March 29, 2010 7:29 PM
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| I haven't seen the final version of the bill, but prior to the last minute deal making sessions, both the House and Senate versions included the usual exemptions for adherents of “recognized religious sects” that are “conscientiously opposed” to accepting benefits from any insurance — private or public — “which makes payments in the event of death, disability, old-age, or retirement or makes payments toward the cost of, or provides services for, medical care.” I'm not sure that would include Christian Scientists since according to the information on the church's official website, some do have health insurance. It is obviously not a violation of a core tenent of CS. You will find this question and answer which provides evidence that it's perfectly acceptable for CS members to have health insurance: Do Christian Scientists carry health insurance or life insurance?
Some have health insurance, and most probably have life insurance. Every Christian Scientist makes his or her own financial and health decisions. Sounds a lot like the recent botched PR campaign that started another thread here --- where the church tried to convince the world that they have always encouraged (or at least, never deterred) members to go to the doctors when necessary. Given that admission, it would seem Christian Scientists cannot claim they are conscientiously opposed on religious grounds any more than any other individual or group...
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