Doing Justice: Healthcare

In 1948, the United Nations General Assembly declared, “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.” Decades later, however, the extent to which health care is a right, and the manner in which it is provided, remains a deeply contested issue.

The purpose of this Micah Intensive is to consider the ethics of medical economics. It may be tempting to leave discussions of health care systems to secular or political contexts, but these are conversations that benefit from all the resources and insights of biblical faith. Many of our traditions are eager to pray for physical healing of individuals, but what about the healing of systems that provide health care or provoke physical illness? We will not debate the ethics of specific medical practices or the role of government in ensuring access to health care, but instead will examine various responses by Christians to bringing healing to the health care system as a whole.

Here is some of what we will explore together:

• An introduction to the ethics of medical economics, including some of the Global Realities;
• Biblical, theological, and social reflection on Christian engagement with three Health Care structures: (1) Two-Tier Approach, (2) Private Market, and (3) Universal Healthcare; and
• Key Christian scholars and though leaders who argue for each of these three structures.
  
  

---

If you are interested in this topic for yourself or for your group/organization, please complete our Micah Intensives Interest Form.

Email micahgroups@fuller.edu with any questions.