In 38 States, the Church cannot make insurance payments for those in need - or why the Church doesn't do more to help the poor

Over the past several years, I've written several times about why the Church doesn't do more to help the poor. Each time I had the same answer: the government too often gets in the way and prevents the Church from helping the poor.

Writing today for the Catholic News Agency, Matt Hadro provides yet another example of how the government prevents the Church from doing more to help the poor:

As churches and charities are legally shut out of helping pay people’s high medical costs in most states, congressmen and advocates are rallying to “allow charities to be charitable.”

“People with chronic, rare, and acute diseases have the right to get the help from third party organizations, and insurers have no sound reason to deny these payments,” said Rep. Randy Hultgren (R-Ill.), a co-sponsor of the Access to Marketplace Insurance Act.

The bill would lift bans on charitable medical payments for health plans on 38 state exchanges [more].

We will see if the Congress will allow the Church to more easily assist the poor with their medical care.