Suggested Talking Points Regarding the National Reporting Campaign

What follows are some talking points in the event questions are raised by the public or media.

Community benefit programs and services improve access and the health status of communities we serve.

• We are committed to health access for everyone.
• We welcome and respect people of all beliefs and traditions.
• We partner with communities we serve to improve the health and quality of life of our communities.
• As a part of improving the health of communities, we work to address the needs of those without access to health care.

The reporting of the community benefit stories and aggregate contribution highlights the Catholic health ministry's unwavering commitment to serve the health care needs of our communities.

• By communicating the benefits Catholic health care organizations provide — responding to community health needs, improving health in the community, and serving those in need — organizations illustrate accountability to their communities.
• Of the $5.7 billion CHA-member hospitals contributed nationwide in 2006 (based on most recent fiscal year), [NAME] provided [$XXX] in programs and services to people locally, including the uninsured and underinsured.
• The community programs and services contribute to the health and well-being of the community, including our [INSERT LOCAL EXAMPLE ONE] and [INSERT LOCAL EXAMPLE TWO].
• We are also seeking new ways to address the needs of the community, as illustrated by our recently opened [INSERT LOCAL EXAMPLE].

We are a not-for-profit organization. As a result, we reinvest funds in community benefit activities, as well as in technology, infrastructure, and staffing in order to ensure that our facility continues to meet the needs of our community.

• Our mission is to serve our communities, and we are pleased to let you know of the many services we bring to people in need and to the larger community.
• The reporting of community benefits is part of our larger commitment to provide a transparent accounting of how we serve the community.
  

We believe it is important that we be accountable to all who grant tax exemption, and we welcome the opportunity to demonstrate that we continue to deserve tax exemption.

• We believe that our community has a right to know how we benefit them.
• [NAME] provides more than just in-patient care. We provide a number of services that reach out to persons who are living in poverty, who are vulnerable, and who have been neglected by the lack of a cohesive national health care policy.
• We are committed to improving health and access to care in our communities, and we provide an array of activities, such as:
• Free and discounted care to those who cannot afford to pay for health care
• Clinics, mobile vans, and other community-based services
• Health education and promotion
• Subsidized services (e.g., trauma, substance abuse, behavioral health, HIV/AIDS, burn unit) that are provided at a loss because they are needed by the community and others are unable or unwilling to provide.

The community benefit dollar amount reported follows the guidelines¹ published by the Catholic Health Association.

• Included:
  
  • Charity care (at cost)
    • It does not include the money we lose from patients who refuse to pay for care they received — otherwise known as "bad debt."
  • Government-sponsored indigent health care — unpaid costs of public programs such as Medicaid, State Children's Health Insurance Programs (SCHIP), and other public programs for low-income people (based on net expenses and not including Medicare shortfall)
  • Community Benefit Services using the CHA guidelines' categories and definitions (net expenses)
• Our figure is based on how much it costs us to provide the care, not what we charge.

We use a systematic approach to assess the needs of our community (with special attention to low-income and minority populations) and to work with others to plan how best to address those needs.

• Our process includes:
• Community needs assessment
• Collaboration with others in our community
• Setting priorities among needs
• Evaluating the benefit and outcome of the services we provide

¹ What does "follows the guidelines" mean? CHA's A Guide for Planning and Reporting Community Benefit, (hyperlink) published in 2006, was developed in cooperation with VHA Inc. and the support of many national organizations. It includes guidelines for building a sustainable infrastructure with adequate resources; developing a community benefit plan based on identified community needs, counting and reporting community benefit using standardized categories and professional accounting policies (including separating bad debt from charity care, not including the Medicare shortfall and reporting the cost — not the charge — of providing the services), evaluating the effectiveness of the community benefit program, and publicly reporting on the community benefit provided.