From the USCCB’s website:
Again this year, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops will co-sponsor “Cover the Uninsured Week,” from March 22-28, 2009. The purpose of this effort is to focus the attention of the nation on the 46 million Americans who lack any form of health insurance. The USCCB has joined with our ecumenical and interfaith partners in educating the public and policymakers about the need for affordable and accessible health care for all. The leadership of this project, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, includes The Catholic Health Association of the United States (CHA), major health organizations, and business and labor groups.
Now for the facts(taken from Sally Pipes’ article, Bam’s Bad Medicine):
18 million of the uninsured make more than $50,000 a year.
10 million of the uninsured make more than $75,000 a year.
More than 10 million of the uninsured are not US citizens.
As many as 14 million of the uninsured are already eligible for government health care programs like Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP-but haven’t bothered to sign up.
Canada’s universal health care system has a waiting list of more than 725,000 people who need surgery and other necessary treatments.
Before Canada launched its universal health care system, the country ranked second in the world among 28 developed countries in doctors per thousand people. Today it ranks 24th.
Canadians also lag far behind in access to CT scanners and MRI machines.
In the UK, the government run health care system explicitly rations medical treatments.
For more on the topic, a good read is Marc Kilmer’s article, The Folly of Expanding Government Health Care. Perhaps the USCCB should have a look.
By the way, funding for the USCCB’s project comes from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. This foundation is a notorious provider of funding for groups that promote abortion and contraception.
Bishops, please, wake up and smell the coffee. Stop partnering with pro-aborts. And stop promoting big government “solutions” for every social problem.