On Sept. 18 and 19 CHA convened ministry advocates in Washington, D.C, for the 2014 Catholic Legislative Advocacy Conference. Over 70 representatives from Catholic hospitals and systems nationwide gathered to hear updates on key legislative issues from health policy experts and to make over 100 visits to members of Congress and their staffs on Capitol Hill.
During the Hill meetings, conference attendees discussed among other issues three ministry priorities: funding to continue the Children's Health Insurance Program; the importance of preserving current community benefit reporting standards; and support for legislation to boost resources and training in palliative care programs.
CHIP is authorized through 2019 but requires additional funding to continue providing needed coverage beyond Oct. 1, 2015, when the current funding stream is set to expire. CHA and its members advocated for the establishment of CHIP in 1997 and its later expansion and CHA is encouraging Congress to act before the end of the current session to shore up the program's funding.
In a commentary published on the website of Roll Call, the Capitol Hill newspaper, CHA's President and Chief Executive Sr. Carol Keehan, DC, wrote that every study of the CHIP program has demonstrated that it has done what Congress envisioned, and done it well.
Ministry advocates meet in Washington
