SENTINEL WATCH June 12, 2006 Issue

MEDICARE AND GOD'S CARE

BEVERLY GOLDSMITH

LIKE THOSE in many other countries, Australia's healthcare system appears to be in crisis. Medical costs keep rising, funding for hospitals has blown out, and now Medicare (our country's universal healthcare system) is under pressure to be privatized.

When Medicare first started in Australia, all eligible citizens were issued with a card that entitled them to free medicine and treatment as a public (Medicare) patient in a public hospital. Later, when people had to formally apply for the card, I declined to do so. For many years prior to this, I'd practiced spiritual healing as taught in Christian Science, and when I had a physical need, I'd always prayed and been healed without the use of drugs or surgery. I have had many healings as the result of understanding that God is the source of health and that He is maintaining my life.

During the next 18 years, I still saw no reason to possess a card. Then two years ago a friend was injured in a traffic accident and taken to hospital for treatment. When he said he didn't have a Medicare card and couldn't pay the large medical bill, hospital administrators were faced with this loss. As it turned out, he qualified for a government requirement, and Medicare reimbursed the hospital.