"Our Faith Calls Us to Expand Health Coverage"
Join the Faith Leader's Open Letter to Governor Lee
Dear Governor Bill Lee and My State Representatives:
In Matthew 25, Jesus tells us that whenever we care for the sick, we care for Jesus; and whenever we fail to do this for the least of these, we fail to do this for Him. (Matthew 25: 34-45) We believe that these words Jesus spoke are neither vague nor empty spirituality, but are a clear commandment for how we as Christians should act both in our private lives and as members of the public. To be followers of Jesus means we should act to meet the real physical, medical needs of the sick and vulnerable among us.
Here in Tennessee, we have heard a great deal of praise for Jesus and the Bible from the Christian men and women sitting in our State’s Halls of power, and yet there are still hundreds of thousands of Tennesseans without adequate access to healthcare, for whom a single medical emergency would bring financial ruin. It need not be this way. We call upon our State government leaders, upon our legislators and upon you as our elected leader and a person of faith, to join us in following the example of Jesus as he calls us to do. (Matthew 16:24) We urge you to wield the power invested in you by these same Tennesseans as leader of our state government and of your party.
During this season of Lent, as liturgical Christians across the state prepare for Easter with a solemn period of reflection and prayer, we hope you will prepare your own heart and mind for Easter by taking responsibility for the lack of access to medical care for the vulnerable in our state.
Solutions to the state's health care crisis have been promised for years and all we have been left with is closed hospitals and hundreds of thousands without care. Medicaid expansion is working in other states.
Will you commit to expanding Medicaid, and accepting federal dollars our state has been throwing away so that hospitals stop closing and hundreds of thousands in our Tennessee flock can finally get health coverage?
What will you do?
Sincerely,
(Your Signature)