USA. News articles on funding of Christian Scientist healthcare report that the government’s Medicare system is paying for the non-medical care of Christian Scientists. Christian Scientists are religiously opposed to using doctors or medicine. Some believe that it is justified and others say that it violates the Constitution. A lawyer of Christian Science Church said that there is nothing special about the Christian Science care that Medicare funds. “When the nurse changes the bedpan or helps a patient with feeding in the Christian Science facility, it’s also the same kind of care that is being given in the hospital,” he said. “It is simply a subset of that kind of care.”

    It was reported that unfortunately, the only “treatment” allowed in such facilities is praying. “The rules are so strict, even patients short of breath are not given oxygen,” says Leslie Saunders, an ex-employee of Medicare-funded Christian Science facilities.