Catholic Health World

Ministry plays major role in final push for reform

By JEFF TIEMAN
CHA senior director of health reform initiatives

The voice of Catholic health care played prominently in the health reform debate that culminated recently in a new law expanding insurance coverage to more than 31 million people.

With a long history of advocating for a health care system that protects human dignity and serves everyone, the Catholic health ministry was especially vocal and active in the months leading up to President Barack Obama signing reform legislation on March 23.

"The bill I'm signing will set in motion reforms that generations of Americans have fought for, and marched for, and hungered to see," Obama told lawmakers assembled at the White House for the signing ceremony.

Obama used 22 pens to sign the bill and gave one of them to Sr. Carol Keehan, DC, CHA's president and chief executive officer, as an acknowledgement of the significant role she and Catholic health care providers played in moving legislation to the finish line.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi acknowledged CHA's support for the historic legislation in her final remarks before the March 21 House vote that cemented reform. She compared the import of health reform to the passage of Social Security and Medicare and told her colleagues, "Today we have the opportunity to complete the great unfinished business of our society and pass health insurance reform for all Americans that is a right and not a privilege."

Said Sr. Carol: "Health reform is a victory for the American people, for the poor, for families struggling to obtain coverage, and for the long-term strength of our health care system. I thank people across our ministry whose advocacy in favor of protecting life and expanding access helped make our long-time wish for reform a reality."

Historic change
The new law will make numerous and significant changes to the health care system, affecting providers, patients, insurers and others all along the continuum of care. Most significantly, it will expand insurance coverage to nearly 92 percent of all U.S. residents.

Hospitals and other industry groups are still uncertain about how the law's provisions will impact operations, finances and care delivery. Catholic health care leaders, however, are expressing enthusiastic support for reform. Many had worked to educate members of their communities about the need for health reform and to keep pressure on Congress and the Obama administration.

CHA and ministry leaders called the premium subsidies for low and middle-income families and other coverage expansion mechanisms in the law a big step toward making health care in the U.S. available and accessible to everyone.

One strong voice
"I am proud to be part of a ministry that worked relentlessly and faithfully to make health care reform a reality," said Colleen Scanlon, CHA's chairwoman and senior vice president for advocacy at Denver-based Catholic Health Initiatives. "The Catholic health community has worked for decades to ensure access and coverage for all, particularly for those who have been historically left out."

Scanlon added: "CHI, in partnership with CHA and the broader ministry, worked collaboratively to understand the legislation and influence the process as it moved along. We had a unified voice in advocating for reform, particularly for those who are most vulnerable."

CHI, like many other Catholic-sponsored systems around the country, communicated with lawmakers, expressed public support and stayed closely involved in reform efforts until the bill became law.

Staff members of Trinity Health based in Novi, Mich., sent more than 1,000 messages to members of Congress over a four-day period prior to the final votes in the House and Senate. The system placed commentaries supporting reform in community newspapers.

"Ohio and South Carolina ministries of the Sisters of Charity Health System were in Washington two weeks in March to advocate for passage of comprehensive health reform legislation," said Sr. Judith Ann Karam, CSA, president and chief executive of Sisters of Charity Health System, Cleveland.

"Adding our voice to CHA's, we urged for changes in the final bill that included calling for an increase in tax credits for low-income individuals and families; an increase in Medicaid primary care service reimbursement rates; reduction of the cuts to Medicaid disproportionate share hospitals; and that the bill should ensure that the final, overall health reform package provide no federal funding for abortion," Sr. Karam said.

CHA leadership expressed thanks to everyone in the ministry who contributed to reform's completion. "So many of our members stepped up to support reform in visible and meaningful ways, and their actions definitively moved our nation closer to universal coverage than ever before," said Michael Rodgers, the association's senior vice president of advocacy and public policy.

President's commitment
Ministry leaders were among the health care executives Obama invited to the White House on March 16 for a discussion focused on how to keep reform moving forward. Sr. Carol attended along with Anthony Tersigni, president and chief executive of St. Louis-based Ascension Health; Lloyd Dean, president and chief executive of San Francisco-based Catholic Healthcare West; and Robert Stanek, president and chief executive of Newtown Square, Pa.-based Catholic Health East.

According to meeting participants, Obama laid out the moral reasons for reform and referenced the intolerable suffering of so many Americans because they lack health insurance. Sr. Carol and others underscored the urgent need among poor and working families for affordable access to health insurance and reiterated the ministry's core value that health care should address health needs at all stages of life.

Tersigni, CHA's chair-elect, told Catholic Health World, "In Catholic health ministry, we are champions of the sanctity of life — from conception to death — and we made that clear to President Obama in our meeting. The president assured us that the reform measure would not allow federal funds to be used for abortion. It was a very serious and important conversation that put our pro-life and pro-reform stance front and center."

CHW's Dean said he was "struck by President Obama's optimism and resolve in pushing for his goal while ensuring that issues of conscience were respected."

Added Dean, regarding the completion of reform: "Make no mistake, it will take an enormous amount of dedication and work to meet the challenges posed by this law. This is the beginning of an era of change. Now we must all come together to achieve the high quality outcomes and lower costs called for in the legislation."

Copyright © 2010 by the Catholic Health Association of the United States
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