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Health & Fitness

With Health Care For All

Is alternative health care a viable option under the health care reform bill?

It’s been over a year since the Federal Patient Affordable Care Act became law, but health care and health care reform are still much in the news. We still don’t even know if the mandate will be ruled constitutional once this issue is taken up with the Supreme Court! But if you ask Californians what they attribute their health to, the answer might surprise you ---- or it might not.

Most would probably say modern medicine. Others, maintaining a healthy lifestyle ---- regular exercise and a good diet. Still others ---- and this includes me ---- deeply value the health-giving benefits of their spiritual practice.

What I'm finding in my everyday conversations is that people don't seem nearly as surprised by my choice for health care as they might have been in years past. Maybe the survey-takers who tell us that society is turning to alternative therapies, including prayer, have hit the mark. A recent report published by the Psychological Association showed that the percentage of people who turn to prayer because of health concerns increased 36 percent between 1999 and 2007.

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I am greatly encouraged by this. The larger conversations that we're all a part of these days, focused on mandated and universal health care, are serious matters that require careful consideration. Forging a workable, all-inclusive health care delivery system that benefits a diverse society is hard work. To be truly universal, health care options should provide a full range of conventional and alternative therapies, including privately financed spiritual health care. This will ensure that coverage, which has existed in the past, and has been found effective for many Californians, will continue.

Covering spiritual care services is not new. These services have been accommodated for years in several federal and state benefit programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE, the Federal Employees Benefits program, and California's own CalPERS program.

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I'm hopeful that California's health care system will recognize the health care practices of all its citizens, providing access not only to those who choose and seek modern medical care but also those who conscientiously find health and healing through spiritual care.

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