March 5, 2010

Catholics urged to stay engaged in health reform debate

Theresa Laurence
Catholic News Service

A week after he presided over a bipartisan health care summit in Washington, President Barack Obama continued to encourage Congress to pass a reform bill. In a March 3 address, he said that “every idea has been put on the table. Every argument has been made. Everything there is to say about health care has been said and just about everybody has said it. So now is the time to make a decision.”

Obama wants Congress to draft a final health care reform bill in the coming weeks, but that hasn’t stopped partisan bickering or last minute efforts by lobbyists to drive their views home one more time.

How the final bill will address federal funding of abortion coverage remains one of the most contentious issues surrounding the issue, and Catholic leaders remain firm in their support for a comprehensive reform bill that protects the life, dignity, consciences and health of all.

While polls show that Americans are frustrated with the health care bill and many support starting over, “we believe it’s not over,” said Nancy Anness, vice president of advocacy and community outreach at Saint Thomas Health Services in Nashville. “There’s still hope.”

The U.S. Catholic bishops remain strong supporters of a comprehensive overhaul of the nation’s healthcare system; in a Feb. 24 letter to congressional leaders, the chairmen of three USCCB committees wrote that a health reform bill should be “truly universal and not be denied to those in need because of their condition, age, where they come from or when they arrive here.” They also stressed that any final plan must “respect the consciences of providers, taxpayers, purchasers of insurance and others, not violate them.”

Anness has been to Washington several times over the last year to meet with legislators and “press them to do the right thing,” which she said, is “providing health care for all Americans.”

As a representative of Ascension Health, a Catholic health care system that is the largest non-profit system in the country, Anness advocates for “100 percent access and 100 percent coverage.”

In her experience meeting with legislators, they seem to be committed to reform, but still divided on how to go about it. As she notes, health reform bills have been passed in both the House and Senate, “but they will have to come up with a final bill – that’s where the rub is.”

Major issues in the health reform debate have at least some support on both sides of the political aisle, like ending the pre-existing condition exclusion from health insurance policies, enacting tort reform to limit medical malpractice lawsuits, and enabling small businesses to pool together to purchase insurance at more affordable rates. 

No compromise on abortion

Abortion, however, continues to divide legislators and is “the big sticking point for Catholics,” said Dr. Rachel Kaiser, an emergency room physician at Saint Thomas Hospital and president of the Nashville chapter of the Catholic Medical Association.

“There’s no question that our health care system needs to be improved on,” Kaiser said, but “abortion is something we couldn’t compromise on.”

Citing “substantial flaws” that exist in the House and Senate bills, including what they see as permissive federal funding for abortion, Catholic Medical Association President Dr. Leonard P. Rybak and Executive Director John F. Brehany, urged legislators to scrap the existing plans and hit the reset button.

“The best chance for achieving authentic health care reform in the foreseeable future is to start the process of legislation over and avoid the mistakes of the past year,” Rybak and Brehany said in an open letter to President Obama and members of Congress. Specifically, they urged a bipartisan process, respect for the doctor-patient relationship, efforts to aid the poor and uninsured that are “effective and economically sustainable,” and respect for “fundamental human and constitutional rights.”

“Legislation must not compel any public funding of, or provider participation in, abortion. Moreover, the rights to conscience and religious liberty of health care providers must be more comprehensively protected as the power of government regulation grows,” Rybak and Brehany added.

Abortion opponents were given good reason to hope March 4 that federal funding for abortion would not be written into the final health bill. Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., leader of the anti-abortion Democrats, said in an interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America” that he and about 10 other pro-life Democrats would not vote for the bill if it permitted federal funding for abortion. “I want to see health care, but we’re not going to bypass some principles that we believe strongly about,” he said. The bill is not likely to pass without 100 percent Democratic backing.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, appearing on the same show, said she hoped that “when the bill is in its final form and people have a chance to look at it, I think they will understand that this bill does not change the status quo on abortion.”

“There will be no federal financing of abortion,” she said.

The health care-poverty link

Kaiser, who sees patients every day in the emergency room who don’t have insurance because they lost their job or couldn’t afford a policy, firmly believes in the need for health care reform and believes that “quality of care can be compromised without insurance.”

Patients can always get immediate medical attention in the emergency room, but “it’s frustrating to get follow up care for them,” Kaiser said. Specialists may have long waiting lists or simply won’t see patients without insurance or up front payment. Those patients who can’t get follow up care and don’t have insurance may be discharged, go home, get sick again, and return to the emergency room for treatment. It’s a cycle Kaiser would like to see end if health coverage is expanded to more people.

Affordability is a steep roadblock that precludes tens of millions of Americans from purchasing a health insurance policy. “If we could get health reform done, it would be a huge step to reduce poverty,” said Tony Garr, executive director of the Tennessee Health Care Campaign, which advocates for affordable, universal health care.

“Many people lose their job, or have an injury, and can never get caught up,” he said. Medical bills are the number one cause of personal bankruptcy in Tennessee, Garr added.

Having guaranteed health insurance “that you won’t lose if you get sick or lose your job, will keep people from falling into poverty,” Garr said.

Anness agreed that “if we see good health care reform legislation, we’re going to see an economic turnaround that’s positive.”

While Anness is hopeful that a health reform bill will pass, she said that even if it doesn’t, Saint Thomas will remain “a model for 100 percent access to care” in Nashville. “We’ll continue to serve those who end up in our path regardless of insurance status.”

Garr encouraged people not to be disillusioned by the gridlock in Washington. “This is how Congress works,” he said. “Don’t think your call to Congress isn’t important, because it is. Don’t walk away; stay engaged.”

To contact Tennessee’s federal elected officials, call Sen. Lamar Alexander at (202) 224-4944 and Sen. Bob Corker at (202) 224-3344, and find your U.S. Representative by visiting www.house.gov for an easily searchable database.

Photo by CNS/Jason Reed, Reuters: U.S. President Barack Obama holds a bipartisan meeting to discuss health reform legislation at Blair House in Washington Feb. 25. With Obama are Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio.