The 100% Campaign: Ensuring Healthcare Access and Coverage for All
Ascension Health is a passionate advocate for health reform. We think it is critically important for Americans to understand this very complex issue—so they know what the various health reform bills in Congress are proposing, and how this pending legislation might affect them. For this reason, we have prepared a short “Policy Primer on Health Reform " that gives the current status of pending federal legislation and discusses the potential impact of the bills.
As part of Ascension Health’s 100% Campaign to ensure access to healthcare and coverage for all, in 2007 we developed a set of six Guiding Features that we want to see incorporated in any health reform plan being debated by Congress. As we examine health reform proposals with a critical eye, we believe these features need to be part of any reformed healthcare policy.
- First, we believe it is imperative that our leaders in Congress enact healthcare reform that ensures both 100% access to healthcare and 100% coverage.
- Next, we must consider the need for reform within the insurance industry. We must change some of the current rules that make insurance difficult to obtain or afford. This also includes sharing—as individuals and as employers—in the responsibility for obtaining and paying for coverage. We need to make sure that health insurance is decent—that it is available and affordable, and that policies are equitable across demographic groups and geographies.
- We also must consider coverage and service gaps in any healthcare reform proposal. We need to make sure that people can get the care they need when they need it, particularly those who are most vulnerable.
- Finally, we realize that to achieve a reformed healthcare system we all must share responsibility for the costs. For America’s healthcare system to be economically viable, we believe that individuals, healthcare providers, businesses, government—all of us must work together.
As you listen and evaluate the proposals for reforming and evaluating our healthcare system, we encourage you to ask these very simple questions:
- Will the healthcare system be redesigned so that I can easily get clinically excellent healthcare?
- Will anyone be left behind?
- Is my coverage decent?
- Are the vulnerable covered?
- Can I get health insurance? Can I afford my plan?
- Will my plan be there tomorrow?
We are convinced that all of our Guiding Features, added together, will lead to improved health for our community. And that should be the primary focus of our nation’s healthcare reform efforts. A document describing Ascension Health’s six Guiding Features can be found here.
We also have prepared a chart that compares Ascension Health’s six 100% Campaign Guiding Features with the various health reform bills currently under consideration. That chart is available here.
We encourage you to continue to stay informed about the important issue of health reform, and to let your elected representatives know that now is the time for America to achieve 100% access and 100% coverage.
Advocacy Consistent with our Mission and Values
Consistent with our Mission and Values, Ascension Health has been speaking out in favor of reform since the System’s earliest days. In 2008, Ascension Health’s hospitals and other healthcare facilities saw more than 935,000 visits from people without health insurance. On average, that translated to one uninsured person cared for in our Health Ministries approximately every 34 seconds, every day.
Last year, we provided $868 million in Care of Persons Who Are Poor and Community Benefit—not only a tangible expression of how we are living our Mission and Values, but also a dramatic statistic that underscores the sad state of America’s healthcare system.
Ascension Health and our Health Ministries take seriously our role as advocates, and we are moving forward with strategic efforts that are having an impact. For example, every Health Ministry of Ascension Health operating an acute care hospital now is implementing an Access Leadership plan. The Access Leadership Planning Program, begun in 2007, engaged Health Ministry leaders to be Access Model catalysts, collaborating with other safety net providers and community leaders to design and implement plans to achieve 100% access to care for people in their communities without health insurance. Access Leadership plans—which are incorporated into our Health Ministries’ Integrated Strategic, Operational and Financial Plans—demonstrate our proven strategies to help communities improve healthcare access and coverage.
