August 2025 Newsletter

Issue #102

Medical Debt

The US has the most medical bankruptcies in the world -- 66% of all bankruptcies.

World Population Review

The next 3 countries with the most medical bankruptcies are:

• Canada - 19%
• Australia -10%
• United Kingdom - 8%

World Population Review

The most common cause of medical debt in the U.S. is an unexpected refusal by insurance companies to pay for a medical procedure.

World Population Review

Most developed countries have universal/single-payer health care systems in which patient costs are minimal and medical costs are much lower.

World Population Review

Over 31 million Americans, 12% of U.S. adults, borrowed $74 billion in 2024 for medical expenses. Millions more coped with the high cost of healthcare by skipping treatments, avoiding care or making other tradeoffs that put their health at risk.

Gallup

19% of U.S. households can not afford to pay for medical care right away.

U.S. Census Bureau

25% of Americans owe $10,000 or more in

medical debt.

Affordable Health Insurance

Americans spend an average of $12,530 on medical expenses every year, including deductibles and premiums. That’s nearly 20% of annual earnings for those that earn the median household income

of $67,521

U.S. Census Bureau

Nearly 50% of people with medical debt say that it has prevented them from buying a house or saving for retirement.

Affordable Health Insurance

People most commonly get health insurance through their employer, which has an average annual deductible limit of $1,669 for individual plans — although for people working for companies with less than 200 employees, it's $2,379.

Kaiser Family Foundation

58% of Americans are concerned that a major health event could lead to personal medical debt. This includes 28% who say they are “very concerned” about the possibility.

Gallup

18% of young adults ages 18 to 29 report needing to borrow money to pay for healthcare.

  Gallup

23% of Black adults and 16% of Hispanic adults report having borrowed money for medical bills compared to 9% of their White counterparts.

Gallup

20% of women younger than 50 report that they borrowed money to pay for healthcare. This compares to 14% of younger men. Likewise, women aged 50 to 64 are twice as likely to report borrowing money as men in the same age bracket.

Gallup

24% of households with children under age 18 are likely to carry medical debt compared to 16% of those without children.

U.S. Census Bureau

42% of new cancer patients lose their entire life savings in 2 years because of treatment.

American Journal of Medicine

62% of cancer patients are in debt because of their treatment, with 55% of them owing at least $10,000.

American Journal of Medicine

Cancer patients are 200% more likely to file for bankruptcy than non-cancer patients.

American Journal of Medicine

Cancer patients who file for bankruptcy have a 79% greater risk of death than patients who do not. Patients reporting financial distress tend to make life threatening decisions related to their prescriptions with 20% of patients taking less medication than prescribed, 19% partially filling a prescription, and 24% not filling the prescription to defray

treatment costs.

Duke Medical Center

For more on Health Care, click here.

Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services

A non-profit organization whose mission is to help refugees and other displaced people establish new lives, strengthen hope, dare to dream, and contribute to the vitality of communities. Also provides support to Americans who are sponsoring refugees for resettlement. In welcoming peoples fleeing persecution and conflict, we are honoring our national heritage as a country of immigrants as well as our commitments under U.S. and international law. IRIS helps newcomers with services and support critical to their transition to self-sufficiency and to making local communities across the U.S. their home. Learn more.

For more on Refugees, click here.

Letter to the White World

By Alex Zanotelli and translated by Frank E. Stachyra. The author, an Italian missionary priest, served for many years among the poorest of the poor in a slum in Nairobi. Eventually, he felt “commissioned” by the people there to minister and evangelize the members of his “White Tribe,” in order to open their eyes to the history of oppression perpetrated by their European ancestors and continued into the present day―through racism, colonialism, exploitation, and treating the poor world as unworthy of respect or care. Read more.

For more on Racism, click here.

Are We Heading Toward World War III?

A TED Talk, featuring political scientist Heni Ozi Cukier, who analyzes the social, economic, political and military conditions that preceded the last two world wars, revealing how historical patterns and today’s geopolitical shifts may be pointing us in a dangerously familiar direction. Connecting past and present, he challenges viewers to recognize the warning signs — and act before it’s too late.

Watch now.

For more on War, click here.

A Small Nation’s Surprising

Solution to Unemployment

A TED Talk, featuring clean economy builder James Mnyupe, who discusses how Namibia, a small, economically vulnerable country, become a trailblazer in sustainable industry. Shows how the people there teamed up with partners from around the world to turn sun, wind and water into green hydrogen — a key ingredient in fueling everything from clean steel to eco-friendly transportation. Makes the case that this blueprint is creating jobs, cutting carbon and sparking a wave of African pride and possibility. Watch now.

For more on the Environment, click here.

If the Ocean Has a Soul: A Marine Biologist's Pursuit of Truth through Deep Waters of Faith and Science

By Rachel G. Jordan. Suggests that both science and Scripture are means of knowing creation and considers the natural world through a spiritual lens, meshing marine biology with biblical truths. Asks:

• How can Christians reconcile religion and science when the two seem opposed?
• What do suffering and death teach us about the character of Jesus?
• How do we care for the environment when there seems to be little hope for repair?
• What do the ocean and its sea creatures, specifically, reveal about God?

The book's thoughtful scientific and theological insights encourage readers to know the Creator of the sea and everything in it. Read more.

For more on the Environment, click here.

Why Climate Action is Unstoppable — and "Climate Realism" is a Myth

A TED Talk, featuring Nobel Laureate Al Gore, who dismantles the fossil fuel industry’s narrative of "climate realism," contrasting their misleading claims with the remarkable advancements in renewable energy. Drawing on data showing clear signs of progress across the world, makes the case that we already have everything needed to solve the climate crisis — and reminds us of what the most valuable renewable resource actually is. Watch now.

For more on the Environment, click here.

Land Power: Who Has It, Who Doesn’t, and How That Determines the Fate of Societies

By Michael Albertus. Shows that a society’s path to prosperity, sustainability, and equality depends on who owns the land. Holds that who owns the land determines whether a society will be equal or unequal, whether it will develop or decline, and whether it will safeguard or sacrifice its environment. Suggests that choices about who owns the land have an effect on poverty, sexism, racism, and the climate crisis—and that what we do with the land today can change our collective fate. Read more.

For more on Economic Justice, click here.

700 Million People Still Live Without Electricity. Here’s How to Fix That

A TED Talk, featuring Jacqueline Novogratz, who unveils a bold vision to bring off-grid solar electricity to 700 million people still living in darkness, transforming lives while slashing emissions. She asks a thought-provoking question: What if this generation could be remembered for finally bringing electricity — and dignity — to everyone on the planet?

Watch now.

For more on Economic Justice, click here.

The Haves and Have-Yachts:

Dispatches on the Ultrarich

By Evan Osnos. A collection of essays exploring American oligarchy and the culture of excess, providing a wry, unfiltered look at how the ultrarich shape—and sometimes warp—our social and political landscape. Provides a portrait of the tactics and obsessions driving this new Gilded Age, in which superyachts, luxury bunkers, elite tax dodges, and a torrent of political donations bespeak staggering disparities of wealth and power. It includes the indulgences, incentives, and psychological distortions that define our economic age. Each essay delves into a world that is rarely visible, from the outrageous to the fabulous to the ridiculous. Delves into the unprecedented Washington influence of Silicon Valley and Wall Street, drawing on in-depth interviews with billionaires, about their power and the explosive backlash it stirs. Originally published in The New Yorker, these essays have been revised and expanded to deliver an unflinching portrait of raw ambition, unimaginable fortune, and the rise of America’s modern oligarchy. They offer a wake-up call—a case against complacency in the face of unchecked excess, as the choices of the ultrarich ripple through our lives. Read more.

For more on Economic Justice, click here.

Florence Immigration & Refugee

Rights Project

A nonprofit organization dedicated to addressing inequity in the immigration system both locally and nationally through direct services and strategic partnerships, advocacy, and outreach efforts. Their vision is to ensure that all immigrants facing removal have access to counsel, understand their rights, and be treated fairly and humanely. Provides free legal services, social services, and advocacy to immigrants facing detention and potential deportation. Learn more.

For more on Immigration, click here. 

Micro Practices for Justice Ministry:

Doing Little Things for the Common Good

By Tex Sample. Challenges the idea that only big, sweeping actions lead to real change. Makes the case that small, everyday acts--done well and consistently--can transform justice ministry in profound ways. Drawing on interviews with 40 pastors from diverse ministry contexts, highlights how micro practices --simple, intentional actions -- have the power to reshape communities and advance justice. Rooted in scripture and theology, offers hundreds of actionable practices that can be easily integrated into everyday ministry. From one-on-one conversations to small group efforts, these seemingly small actions, when practiced consistently, build momentum that drives meaningful change. Each practice is shared through engaging narrative stories, bringing the experiences of real pastors to life and demonstrating the lasting impact of doing the "small stuff" with intention. Offers both practical tools and spiritual encouragement for those committed to justice.

Read more.

For more Public Witness resources, click here.

The Horizons Project

An organization that organizes, convenes and facilitates, striving to impact the ecosystem of social change throughout the country. Areas of work include: Harnessing Our Power to End Political Violence, the Pillars of Authoritarianism and Narrative Engagement Across Difference. Resources include: Rethinking "Polarization" as the Problem, Authoritarianism: How You Know It When You See It, The Pillars of Support Project, Race and Democracy. Learn more.

For more Public Witness resources, click here.

Social Justice Legal Foundation

An organization that brings cases to trial in targeted areas of economic and social justice and equity. Working alongside grassroots community partners, with guidance from academic advisors and trial litigators, identifies and pursues cases against governmental, corporate, and other actors that are harming communities. Works to bring innovative trial litigation that advances civil and economic rights, and to train young litigators. Challenges police misconduct, conditions of immigration detention, punitive fines and fees, the criminalization of poverty, and violations of the civil rights and liberties of incarcerated people. Learn more.

For more Justice resources, click here.

Good Faith Media

An organization with the mission to amplify freedom, inclusivity, and justice for people and partners utilizing multiple media platforms as a catalyst to produce and publish thoughtful, engaging and inspiring content. Features a bookstore, Good Faith magazine, and films on social topics such as immigration, the criminal justice system, racism and religious tolerance. Learn more.

For more Justice resources, click here.

Pope Paul VI and His Quest for Peace: 1963-1978: Volume One: "Never Again War!"

By Rev. John F Tuohey. A biography of Pope Paul VI, who transformed the Vatican's role in world affairs by placing peace at the heart of Catholic social teaching. Describes the pope as a visionary moral leader whose papacy reshaped Catholic engagement with war, diplomacy, and justice. Commemorates the 60th anniversary of the pope's 1965 address to the United Nations General Assembly, where he boldly proclaimed: "Never again one against the other! Never again war!" Explores his visit to New York, his meeting with President Lyndon Johnson, and the ethical stance that led him to challenge U.S. bombing strategy in Vietnam. Reveals how the pope guided the Church toward a new attitude on war, nuclear deterrence, and conscientious objection. Follows his role in initiating the Paris Peace Talks and shaping Church doctrine through moral leadership, not neutrality. Read more.

For more Peace resources, click here.

Prayer for Immigrants & Refugees

God of all nations, we pray for immigrants and refugees as well as all those who are suffering from the trauma of displacement and have experienced loss and hardship. Comfort them, heal their wounds, and fill them with hope for the future. May they find peace and wholeness in their new lives.

Inspire us to be a welcoming presence for neighbors. Give us open hearts and minds, and the courage to extend your love and compassion to those who seek refuge in our communities. May we be instruments of your peace and justice.

We pray for just and compassionate immigration policies that protect the dignity and rights of all people. Guide our leaders to create systems that are fair, efficient, and humane, and that recognize the valuable contributions of immigrants to our society.

Please grant us a future where all people can live in peace and security, where borders are open to opportunity and welcome, and where the gifts of all are celebrated. May we work together to build a world where every person has a place to call home and a chance to thrive.

Amen

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