Calvinism and Health Care Reform

As a Catholic, I am to give a preferential option to the poor. I reaffirm this in my baptismal vows whenever I participate in a baptism during Mass. I was thinking that in other Christian practice and thought, the opposite is sometimes true. When looking for links between Calvinism and the poor, I came across a statement by Ron Beasley, "Calvinism was born in Europe, but took root in the United States." Here is his response to my email asking if he thought Calvinism had a direct effect on the health care reform debate:

"Hello MikeI think that many of the inequality issues, including health care, in this country are the result of the strong Calvinist history of this country. You have because you were chosen by God to have and you don't have because God sees you as unworthy. That's why a few rich and powerful Oligarchs are able to control policy in this country and that includes health care. That is also what C-Street is all about except they carry it a bit further - if you were chosen you can do no wrong. This post doesn't directly speak of Calvinism but it does speak of about the Oligarchs who's power is the result of the Calvinist strain in America."

What do you think?

Other reading: Health care and poor relief in Protestant Europe, 1500-1700 By Dr. Andrew Cunningham, Ole Peter Grell