What is the heart of Catholicism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

What is the heart of Catholicism - Essay Example For salvation and redemption, people need to gather around the bishop since he is the true descendant of God and, therefore, of Jesus. In Catholicism, this institutional approach to belief and the importance of communion with the Holy See through a religious medium like church or other religious authority are essentially inspired by Biblical evidences and history. One of Jesus’ speeches supports Catholicism’s claim about the importance of a believer’s communion with the religious authority is as following: â€Å"I say to you, something greater than the temple is here† (Barron 24). Indeed in Catholicism, the ideas of ‘temple’ and ‘bishop’ are the representatives of each other. In this regard, Barron says, â€Å"If Jesus is, in his person, the true temple, then he should be the definitive source of teaching, healing and, forgiveness and this is just what the Gospel tells us† (Barron 24). Indeed this very basis of Christ’s persona as the sole source salvation and redemption lies at the heart of Catholicism. Indeed, proper religious authority plays an important role in shaping the rites and rituals of Catholicism. The propriety of religious authority is often determined by sacramental evidences. While the Catholics unanimously believe in the ministration of Christ as the temple of teaching, salvation and redemption, the bishop is believed to be the true spiritual descendant of Christ himself. Therefore a bishop plays a very important role in catholic rites and rituals. For an instance, Catholic dogma asserts that the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper must be administered by certain qualified persons. According to the Roman Catholic Church, â€Å"only a Catholic Priest ordained into the apostolic succession can administered the Eucharist† (Erickson 1122). Erickson further says in this regard, â€Å"If any other person should take the same physical elements and pronounce the same words over them, they would remain bread and

Is Managed Care the solution to controlling Medicare costs or would Term Paper

Is Managed Care the solution to controlling Medicare costs or would this lead to limitations on the care that older Americans ca - Term Paper Example The solution that is being proposed in order to control the rising costs of Medicare is Managed Care. This is a controversial and questionable move due to the huge difference in the way that Medicare and Managed Care handle their members. Managed Care is described as a program that (The Basics of Managed Care, 1994), "1. ...refers, in general, to efforts to coordinate, rationalize, and channel the use of services to achieve desired access, service, and outcomes while controlling costs. 2. Risk-based managed care describes care from organizations that provide or contract to provide health care in broad/specified areas for a defined population for a fixed, prepaid price [where the managed care organizations (MCOs) are at financial risk to deliver the services for the fixed price]. Managed care organizations use various strategies to control costs. " Managed Care in theory sounds like a good thing. However, looking deeper into the way the program works shows that it will only increase t he cost of healthcare for most senior citizens because the program the program concentrates on preventive services and patient education in order to cut costs. There lies the problem with Managed Healthcare. How exactly to the proponents of this program expect this program to cut Medicare costs when it only rewards the patient for being and remaining healthy? There is no senior citizen on this planet who does not need some sort of current medical care for a preexisting or currently existing condition. So how exactly can this particular program cut the costs of Medicare for senior patients? The simple answer is that it can't. Medicare is necessary for retired citizens who cannot afford to pay for regular insurance coverage. They are of that age wherein illness is a common part of their lives and finding solutions or palliative care is already a norm, not an exemption. Once Medicare for the patient is placed under a Managed Care program, then Medicare will start to discourage people f rom seeking medical care unless it is absolutely necessary. But who is to say what is medically necessary for a patient and what is not? Senior citizens are understood to no longer be in the pink of health. They need medical attention most of the time. They may be willing to keep themselves healthy but their body may just not be able to cope. Managed Care will instead punish them for being sickly. These people will be limited to packaged medical services that may or may not cover their medical needs. Whatever happens, there will be a severe cost out of pocket for the patient. (Basics of Managed Care, 1994). According to Dr. Dudley Adams (2001), there is this preconceived notion that since Managed Care prepays for healthcare, then the quality of healthcare would improve. Mainly because services would concentrate more on preventing illness rather than treating it. However, there is no solid evidence that such a move would actually benefit Medicare patients who may already be under som e sort of medical care at the time that their Managed Care coverage takes effect. A closer look at the healthcare system in place for older Americans shows that the system is more fragmented than ever before. There is also a loss of the actual mission and vision of Medicare. Medicare was set up with the mandate to help out senior