Cardinal O'Malley pulls out from health joint venture over abortion [CNA]

[elts1956]

In a nutshell, it is the same system that they have in every state. A Catholic Hospital does not have to provide these services, but it cannot deny someone the right to use their insurance to get them elsewhere.

Basically, a Catholic hospital can say, we don’t do this. They can try to advise the patient against it. They can even suggest that the patient go to a Catholic pregnancy clinic. But if the patient is adamant, they have to say to the patient, “Talk to your insurance company.”

You cannot deny the patient that much information. In reality that does not compromise the hospital or the Church, because patients have access to that information from their insurance handbook, internet, friends, family, schools, and other sources.

In other words, you’re not telling the patient something that is a dark hidden secret.

The speaker in the article is saying that they will be watching to make sure that Catholic hospitals do ot hide this information from their patients. This is an absurd statement. How can any hospital hide what is public information?

I sounds like the kind of statement that one makes when one is faced with sour grapes.

I hope this helps.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

Do they have to direct the client to anyone, including the Ins. Corps.? I know, “dead horse”, but in the atmosphere of today… Can’t they just smile and say, “That’s our policy”?

 

[elts1956]

In a nutshell, it is the same system that they have in every state. A Catholic Hospital does not have to provide these services, but it cannot deny someone the right to use their insurance to get them elsewhere.

Basically, a Catholic hospital can say, we don’t do this. They can try to advise the patient against it. They can even suggest that the patient go to a Catholic pregnancy clinic. But if the patient is adamant, they have to say to the patient, “Talk to your insurance company.”

You cannot deny the patient that much information. In reality that does not compromise the hospital or the Church, because patients have access to that information from their insurance handbook, internet, friends, family, schools, and other sources.

In other words, you’re not telling the patient something that is a dark hidden secret.

The speaker in the article is saying that they will be watching to make sure that Catholic hospitals do ot hide this information from their patients. This is an absurd statement. How can any hospital hide what is public information?

I sounds like the kind of statement that one makes when one is faced with sour grapes.

I hope this helps.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

Thank you for the clarification. The part that I did not understand is now clear. If I understand correctly, we (the readers) can assume that the many on this team were blindsided by what others were doing. So, in fact, there were members of the Cardinal’s team who were not for the venture as it was published in the press. In other words, they were caught off guard.

As to defending the Cardinal, Sean and I go way back. I can’t imagine him doing anything that would be contrary to Church teaching. This is a man who has given his life to the service of the Church and has been a model of obedience to the Church and to our Franciscan superiors.

I can see how he would try to find a way to provide health care and insurance to the poor. The poor have always been very close to his heart. In the mid 70s he, two other brothers, and several Carmelite Sisters of Charity rented two apartments in a run down tenement in Washington, DC. I still remember it as if it were today. It was a dangerous area. The team of friars and Carmelite sisters was determined to put an end to the violence by bringing the poor what they needed: jobs, health care, dental care, counseling, GED education, ESOL education, religious education, youth ministry, liturgy and sacraments. I was assigned there for a while, when I returned from the foreign missions. Sean opened a house for homeless men and another for homeless women. He got doctors and dentists from the community to donate their time to our clinic. The brothers ran GED, ESOL, and religious education programs for youth and adults. The Carmelite Sisters did the nursing and counseling.

This was where I discovered my vocation within the vocation, to start a community of brothers to do penance for those who commit abortion, minister to those who have been through this tragedy, counsel those who are considering it, and move parishes to support Respect Life movements with donations and volunteers.

After doing that in one diocese, I moved to another, and now another where we hope to begin another such Franciscan brotherhood. This inspiration came from the Holy Spirit through Sean O’Malley and Francis of Assisi.

This is not confidential information. Sean O’Malley’s history is all over the internet, including his blog and the USCCB.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

I too am ecstatic that a Catholic prelate has stood up to be heard. I do get impatient when to me, the answer is in concrete. I would never make a good politician.

 

[JReducation]

Do they have to direct the client to anyone, including the Ins. Corps.? I know, “dead horse”, but in the atmosphere of today… Can’t they just smile and say, “That’s our policy”?

They don’t have to say anything. They can say “We don’t do this procedure.” The glitch, if one can call it that, is that we have to remember that most physicians do not work for the hospital where you get your services. Physicians apply for privileges at specific hospitals. They go before a board of their peers before they’re given privileges to attend patients in the hospital.

In Catholic hospital the OB/GYN department would ensure that any physician attending patients in their unit does not provide abortion in their hosptial or send their patient to another hospital that does. Once this is sorted out and the physician pays for the privileges, they are granted and reviewed periodically. The physician must submit to the rules of the game as set by the Medical Director of the OB/GYN unit and the Nursing Director.

The medical director is responsible for medical decisions and ensures that physicians follow proper medical protocol. The nursing director runs the unit on a day to day basis. He makes sure that the physician follows hospital rules and monitors quality control.

Part of this quality control is ensuring that the patient has the information that the law says that he or she has a right to have. Whether the law in MA requires that the patient have information regarding abortion is not clear. From what I read, they do have to tell the patient that they need to speak to their insurance for the services that they do not provide. This is not a Church law. This is a state law. It is a ridiculous policy, because people can find this information on their own. They just have to read their patient handbook for their insurance provider.

But the Church does not want doctors and nurses to break the law. However, they do want doctors and nurses who work for them to comply with civil law and moral law, not allow civil law to trump moral law.

This is why owning an insurance company that provides affordable health care to the poor did not work out. The law in MA requires that the insurance provider pay for abortion and apparently, the partners were willing to compromise on this when the Cardinal was not.

What we now have is Catholic hospitals that are going to be in need of funds to provide services for the poor since insurance providers are not going to refer to them for reproductive health care. We need to prepare to support the health care of the poor. Boston is not the end of the story, but only the beginning.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[elts1956]

They don’t have to say anything. They can say “We don’t do this procedure.” The glitch, if one can call it that, is that we have to remember that most physicians do not work for the hospital where you get your services. Physicians apply for privileges at specific hospitals. They go before a board of their peers before they’re given privileges to attend patients in the hospital.

In Catholic hospital the OB/GYN department would ensure that any physician attending patients in their unit does not provide abortion in their hosptial or send their patient to another hospital that does. Once this is sorted out and the physician pays for the privileges, they are granted and reviewed periodically. The physician must submit to the rules of the game as set by the Medical Director of the OB/GYN unit and the Nursing Director.

The medical director is responsible for medical decisions and ensures that physicians follow proper medical protocol. The nursing director runs the unit on a day to day basis. He makes sure that the physician follows hospital rules and monitors quality control.

Part of this quality control is ensuring that the patient has the information that the law says that he or she has a right to have. Whether the law in MA requires that the patient have information regarding abortion is not clear. From what I read, they do have to tell the patient that they need to speak to their insurance for the services that they do not provide. This is not a Church law. This is a state law. It is a ridiculous policy, because people can find this information on their own. They just have to read their patient handbook for their insurance provider.

But the Church does not want doctors and nurses to break the law. However, they do want doctors and nurses who work for them to comply with civil law and moral law, not allow civil law to trump moral law.

This is why owning an insurance company that provides affordable health care to the poor did not work out. The law in MA requires that the insurance provider pay for abortion and apparently, the partners were willing to compromise on this when the Cardinal was not.

What we now have is Catholic hospitals that are going to be in need of funds to provide services for the poor since insurance providers are not going to refer to them for reproductive health care. We need to prepare to support the health care of the poor. Boston is not the end of the story, but only the beginning.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

That was my next thought. Who helps the Catholic hospitals?

 

[JReducation]

That was my next thought. Who helps the Catholic hospitals?

That’s a big question that we religious who work with people who live with disabilities, women in crisis pregnancies, the elderly and terminally ill and have few financial resources pray about every day.

Right now, I’m trying to promote vocations to the brotherhood among young men who want to serve this population. Most of these people have limited income or fixed income, if they are seniors. These folks will have to go to government run hospitals if we can’t provide the high tech care that they need.

If you know any man under 60 who hears to call to a life of prayer, silence, brotherhood, penance, and service to the most vulnerable members of society send them my way. They don’t have to be in the field of health care. There are many jobs that need to be done to help the poor and protect the unborn. The most important one is prayer and penance.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF