Catholic Health Association CEO Urges Congress to Reverse Funding ‘Drift’ Away From the Uninsured

Congress should act this legislative session to "tackle the health care needs of our nation's uninsured," as the "health care outlook for [the] poor, uninsured and under-served population is truly bleak," Michael Place, president and CEO of the Catholic Health Association, writes in a Baltimore Sun opinion piece. Place states that the problem of the uninsured is particularly acute in rural areas, where those without coverage tend to be "older, poorer and less medically privileged." He writes that rural regions illustrate a funding "drift" away from subsidized health care coverage for the poor, the unemployed and the disabled seen throughout the country. The 1997 Balanced Budget Act cut $16.8 billion over five years from Medicare funds intended for rural areas, of which only $3.8 billion has been restored by Congress over the last two years. Yet the small rural hospital for many patients, Place writes, remains a "lifeline in need of preservation." Place states that hospital emergency rooms and free clinics in rural and urban regions alike only serve as a "stopgap" and do not provide an adequate substitute for basic health insurance. Stating that Congress' failure to pass an economic stimulus package earlier this month "dealt [the uninsured] a dose of legislative paralysis," Place concludes, "It is time for our nation's public and private leadership, health care providers and faith-based groups to come together and to join all Americans in a search for real and meaningful solutions to this health care challenge" (Place, Baltimore Sun, 2/19). The Catholic Health Association is a member of the "Covering the Uninsured" coalition of employers, unions, insurers, providers and consumer advocates that launched an advertising campaign on Feb. 12 (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 2/13).