Advocacy

We believe our job is to help our patients navigate the healthcare system in an era of reform by providing information and tools to help them be informed healthcare consumers. We also continue to believe access to healthcare for all must be vigorously and thoughtfully pursued through meaningful reform in the way healthcare is delivered and paid for in the United States.

As part of our commitment to comprehensive healthcare coverage:

• We support reform of the insurance market to allow universal access to reliable, quality health coverage.
• We support mandates to achieve universal coverage, building on the employer-based system with appropriate assistance for the poor through premium subsidies and expansion of government programs.
• We support the Health Insurance Marketplaces, but remain opposed to a public plan option or co-ops which compete through inadequate provider reimbursement (reducing access), inferior benefits and/or government subsidization.
• We support shared responsibility for health and wellness, utilizing medical homes and a community-based health approach to help people learn and care more about their own health.

In support of a transformed healthcare delivery system that improves quality of care, patient outcomes and efficiency:

• We participate in innovative payment reforms through Medicare, such as hospital readmissions policies, value-based purchasing and bundled payments systems, but oppose arbitrary reductions to reimbursement rates or payment reforms that reduce access to services.
• We support medical homes and accountable care organizations as catalysts for change in coordination of care.
• We oppose dismantling of programs that defray costs to providers of uncompensated care, such as Disproportionate Share Hospital payments, as long as there are uninsured still in need of services.
• We support research on comparative effectiveness and information-driven care to improve patient outcomes rather than as a tool for reimbursement decisions.
• We support government action to promote participation and investment in health information technology and to facilitate standardization to make technology as useful as possible.
• We support limitations on physician self-referral, but urge revision of the Stark Law and anti-kickback laws which impede new provider partnerships, block innovative care delivery models and prevent appropriate sharing of health information.
• We urge amendment of federal and state antitrust laws which make it difficult for hospitals and doctors to collaborate to improve care coordination across settings as well as reduce costly duplication of services.
• We support responsible and sustainable reforms that achieve savings to balance the new costs of expanding coverage, reduce wasteful spending and “bend the cost curve” while improving community health.
• We support existing tax-exempt policies for charitable health care organizations that demonstrate community benefit.
• We support reforms to the medical malpractice system in order to reach an appropriate balance, assuring fair compensation for medical injuries, but controlling frivolous lawsuits that force “defensive medicine” and add unnecessarily to health care costs.
• We support the deployment of integrated electronic medical records systems to better facilitate information sharing among providers and to improve patient care and quality.

We believe that:

• Longstanding and widely supported policies protecting provider conscience rights must be preserved. As faith-based providers of care, these protections go to the heart of what we do and why we do it.
• Federal funds should not be used for abortion, and no benefit package should be mandated to cover abortion.

For questions or information, contact:
Megan Mahncke, MA
Senior Vice President, Marketing and Communications
SCL Health
megan.mahncke@sclhealth.org