Rio Texas Methodist Federation for Social Action

Sign up to participate in the Health Justice Sabbath, November 18-20, 2016.

Why Health Justice Sabbath?

Six years after passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), uninsured rates across the U.S. have dropped significantly, but Texas leads the nation in both number and percent of uninsured residents. Nearly a million low-income adults are caught in a “coverage gap”— too poor to qualify for subsidies through healthcare.gov, but earning too much to qualify for Medicaid. And lack of insurance isn’t our only health woe: Texas ranks 34th among the states for health overall, and 41st for senior health. Texans with education beyond high school do better, and Hispanics are particularly at risk.

We can do better.

Faith communities play a unique role in the health care landscape. We are providers, consumers, and advocates. We engage health care as an issue of both charity and justice. Our scriptural traditions affirm physical, mental, and spiritual health as core human needs. We celebrate the human mind and body as gifts of a loving Creator.

Increasingly, individuals and communities of faith are concerned about the politicization and polarization of health care in Texas. We want to engage in meaningful, nonpartisan discussion about the future of health care in our state. We want a conversation that integrates physical and mental health and wellbeing; that empowers individuals and local communities; and that envisions affordable, quality health care for all Texans.

We want a health care discussion that is Above Politics.

Let’s start that conversation. This November, join faith communities across the state in prayer, study, and action, as we lift up faith-based teachings and aspirations for healthy families and communities; for the disadvantaged and dismissed; and for our shared future.

Join congregations and other faith groups around Texas in holding a Health Justice Sabbath on the weekend of November 18-20.

• You might do a big project—like a forum or health fair your whole community can attend.
• You might simply include special prayers for health and healing in worship.
• Whether it’s saying a prayer for healing, volunteering at a local clinic, holding a forum on health care issues, or something else, your participation in Health Justice Sabbath will help Texas focus on the importance of health care for all Texans.

Sign up to participate in the Health Justice Sabbath, November 18-20, 2016.