Healthcare

Insurance companies have the power to decide who gets coverage, choose what medical treatment they'll pay for and set the prices for coverage.

Congress has an opportunity to enact real healthcare reform that will put families back in control of their children's health care and guarantee every child access to all medically necessary services to maximize child health and development!
Urge your Congressmembers to take action. Sign the petition letter today >>

The debate on healthcare reform is very complex. Should there be national healthcare system with a single national provider? Independent insurance companies adding currently unsured or underinsured people? Provide for uninsured children only? Leave the current system with its free enterprise components intact? Some of the above? All of the above? The debate is real and not simple to arrive at a solution that satisfies all. When it comes to health care reform, the consequences of inaction are almost unimaginable. 

In a televised press conference, when asked why he felt it necessary to rush and to impose a deadline for health care reform, President Obama replied, "I am rushed because I get letters every day from families who are being clobbered by health care costs. In a country like ours, that’s not right. To view the president speaking about some of those letters and more visit http://www.whitehouse.gov/video/Inside-the-White-House-Letters-to-the-President/, If you don’t set deadlines in this town, nothing gets done." So, what to do? What do you want?

Congress has much work to do. Although it will not get done by the August recess as originally planned, but the President is still looking toward passage of a meaningful health care reform bill this year. The American people do need relief. Despite the bad economy, the cost of doing nothing will be greater in the long run. We’ve already put this off for far too long. Maybe this will be the year that we begin to heal.

Catholic Charities in Partnership with Catholic Health Association: CC USA, CHA and Fran Action Network call for health reform that is: accessible to everyone, with special attention to those who are poor and vulnerable. Healthcare that is prevention oriented, promoting healthy communities; sufficiently and fairly financed; transparent and consensus-driven; patient centered and designed to protect health needs of all stages of life. Care that is safe and effective. To send an electronic message go to http://www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=1782