This NYT piece I think laid out a lot of the issues involved with the current US debate on medical care. This was my own journey into rationing health care.
When I was a fairly new missionary an old pastor in the zone was in his last stages of life. The medical care was what it was in small town Dominican Republic for a poor Haitian. He had been in and out of the hospital but now was facing another round. They had no money and being the only person they knew who had any money and a connection where they might be in a position to ask they asked me. I knew a few things:
1. This could go on indefinitely. The medical diagnosis wasn’t necessarily clear or accurate (given the level of care available) but he was old and not well.
2. I didn’t have enough money to simply underwrite his medical bills indefinitely.
3. If I underwrote his medical bills indefinitely should I also underwrite every request for money for medical from the 1000 or so equally poor church members in the zone? I surely couldn’t do that.
4. The amount of money I could offer this man in this time frame was finite. I had to come up with a number.
Did I put a value on human life? No, I put designated an amount of money that I could offer for a specific thing.
Isn’t human life of infinite value? As a Christian I have to say “no”. I believe the Christian narrative in fact relativizes the value of human life in the age of decay in a way that a secular humanism does not. Human life has value, but it is not of ultimate value.
I told the family the amount I was going to offer to help them with and I gave them the option of using it for the hospital or perhaps using it for the funeral. A proper funeral also has value and that family understood that value. They opted to use the money for the funeral. The pastor died, we had a funeral.
As a young missionary I learned some hard lessons about life in the age of decay with limits. This was one of those lessons.
This was my own journey into rationing health care.
When I was a fairly new missionary an old pastor in the zone was in his last stages of life. The medical care was what it was in Barahona for a poor Haitian. He had been in and out of the hospital but now was facing another round. They had no money and being the only person they knew who had any money and a connection where they might be in a position to ask they asked me. I knew a few things:
1. This could go on indefinitely. The medical diagnosis wasn’t clear (given the level of care available) but he was old and not well.
2. I didn’t have enough money to simply underwrite his medical bills indefinitely.
3. If I underwrote his medical bills indefinitely should I also underwrite every request for money for medical from the 1000 or so equally poor church members in the zone? I surely couldn’t do that.
4. The amount of money I could offer this man in this timeframe was finite. I had to come up with a number.
Did I put a value on human life? No, I put designated an amount of money that I could offer for a specific thing.
Isn’t human life of infinite value? As a Christian I have to say “no”. I believe the Christian narrative in fact relativizes the value of human life in the age of decay in a way that a secular humanism does not. Human life has value, but it is not of ultimate value.
I told the family the amount I was going to offer to help them with and I gave them the option of using it for the hospital or perhaps using it for the funeral. A proper funeral also has value and that family understood that value. The opted to use the money for the funeral. The pastor died, we had a funeral.
As a young missionary I learned some hard lessons about life in the age of decay with limits. This was one of those lessons.
About PaulVK
Husband, Father of 5, Pastor
Leadingchurch.com 
My own experience with rationing health care
This NYT piece I think laid out a lot of the issues involved with the current US debate on medical care. This was my own journey into rationing health care.
When I was a fairly new missionary an old pastor in the zone was in his last stages of life. The medical care was what it was in small town Dominican Republic for a poor Haitian. He had been in and out of the hospital but now was facing another round. They had no money and being the only person they knew who had any money and a connection where they might be in a position to ask they asked me. I knew a few things:
1. This could go on indefinitely. The medical diagnosis wasn’t necessarily clear or accurate (given the level of care available) but he was old and not well.
2. I didn’t have enough money to simply underwrite his medical bills indefinitely.
3. If I underwrote his medical bills indefinitely should I also underwrite every request for money for medical from the 1000 or so equally poor church members in the zone? I surely couldn’t do that.
4. The amount of money I could offer this man in this time frame was finite. I had to come up with a number.
Did I put a value on human life? No, I put designated an amount of money that I could offer for a specific thing.
Isn’t human life of infinite value? As a Christian I have to say “no”. I believe the Christian narrative in fact relativizes the value of human life in the age of decay in a way that a secular humanism does not. Human life has value, but it is not of ultimate value.
I told the family the amount I was going to offer to help them with and I gave them the option of using it for the hospital or perhaps using it for the funeral. A proper funeral also has value and that family understood that value. They opted to use the money for the funeral. The pastor died, we had a funeral.
As a young missionary I learned some hard lessons about life in the age of decay with limits. This was one of those lessons.
This was my own journey into rationing health care.
When I was a fairly new missionary an old pastor in the zone was in his last stages of life. The medical care was what it was in Barahona for a poor Haitian. He had been in and out of the hospital but now was facing another round. They had no money and being the only person they knew who had any money and a connection where they might be in a position to ask they asked me. I knew a few things:
1. This could go on indefinitely. The medical diagnosis wasn’t clear (given the level of care available) but he was old and not well.
2. I didn’t have enough money to simply underwrite his medical bills indefinitely.
3. If I underwrote his medical bills indefinitely should I also underwrite every request for money for medical from the 1000 or so equally poor church members in the zone? I surely couldn’t do that.
4. The amount of money I could offer this man in this timeframe was finite. I had to come up with a number.
Did I put a value on human life? No, I put designated an amount of money that I could offer for a specific thing.
Isn’t human life of infinite value? As a Christian I have to say “no”. I believe the Christian narrative in fact relativizes the value of human life in the age of decay in a way that a secular humanism does not. Human life has value, but it is not of ultimate value.
I told the family the amount I was going to offer to help them with and I gave them the option of using it for the hospital or perhaps using it for the funeral. A proper funeral also has value and that family understood that value. The opted to use the money for the funeral. The pastor died, we had a funeral.
As a young missionary I learned some hard lessons about life in the age of decay with limits. This was one of those lessons.
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About PaulVK
Husband, Father of 5, Pastor