Transcript:

There is so much controversy today in the US about healthcare.  We hear so many arguments on the subject.  Should there be healthcare as we now know it?   How can we improve the medical insurance programs that we have?  Is there any way we can make this situation better?  Medical insurance in this country basically started in the 1930s when labor unions were demanding things such as child labor laws, five day workweeks, and eight hour days.  It was after WWII that medical insurance for employees sky rocketed.   Today, the healthcare situation in this country seems to be in trouble.  People on all sides have suggestions on how we can improve the situation.   I’m Wes White from cgi.org and welcome to Connecting History and the Bible.  Let’s go to Dallas Texas.

I’m standing in front of Baylor University Medical Center.  It is the main hospital for one of the world’s largest hospital systems, Baylor-Scott & White.  Baylor recently went to work on this problem of healthcare and they discovered that they could better serve their employees and save over $14 million dollars a year by implementing new practices in their employee healthcare program.  They’re now trying to help other companies implement the major aspects of their program.  

One of the first things Baylor learned was that 5% of its employees accounted for 50 percent of medical costs.  Joel Allison of Baylor Scott & White has stated, “It’s not that obesity runs in your family.  It’s that nobody in your family runs.”  In other words, preventive medicine and a healthy lifestyle are key to good health and keeping medical care costs down.  This is why it is so important that we not only exercise, it’s also important that we eat the right foods.

Believe it or not, the Bible is in agreement with Joel Allison on this issue.  The Bible very clearly gives us some guidance on eating right foods.  Did you know the Bible tells us that certain animals can be eaten and certain animals should not be eaten?  The Bible also tells us that there are parts of the animal that definitely should NOT be eaten.  For example, humans should not eat the fat of any animal and humans should not eat the blood of any animal.  You probably never heard this, did you?  But it’s true.  The Bible gives us clear instruction on the matters that, if we follow them, we will live healthier lives.  If you’d like more information on this, please contact us at cgi.org.

And please study your Bible on a daily basis.  Did you know that the Bible talks about the importance of exercise?  And it even says things like, you should have a little wine for your stomach’s sake.  No, not drunkenness, but wine for medicinal purposes.  Contrary to what some would have you believe, the Bible does NOT teach against alcoholic beverages in moderation.  We have information on the subject of alcoholic beverages as well.

We all have a responsibility to ourselves when it comes to our personal health.  We also have a responsibility to others to try to keep healthcare costs down.  We all need to work together in peace and love on issue such as this.  We’ll see you next time on Connecting History and the Bible.