In a Buddhist scripture, called the Vinaya Pitaka, there is a story of the Buddha encountering a monk who was quite ill with dysentery but no one would help him as the monk and his bedding were quite unclean.
The Buddha said to the other monks, "If you do not look after each other, who will look after you? Let him who would look after me look after one who is sick. If he has a teacher, his teacher should look after him until his recovery. Or his co-resident or his pupil. If he has none of these, the Community should look after him. Not to do so is an offence of wrongdoing."
The United States is the only industrialized nation to not offer universal health care. Sometimes, we all need help and, sometimes, we have no one to help us. In a country with over 300 million people, with many who are quite faithful to their religion, we can still be a community who looks after others and cares for those who need help. Universal health care is one way It can be done, if we have the will to serve others and ease suffering.
