Healthcare

President Obama has convened a health care summit to address the urgent needs of our healthcare system. The Catholic Healthcare Association (CHA) is a great vehicle for balanced and informative insights on the effects of the Obama policies on healthcare. CHA has expert analysts who go through legislative actions specifically for the impact on the Catholic Healthcare ministry. CHA urges inclusion of health reform funding in the FY 2010 budget.

Of special interest is the Cover the Uninsured Week set for March 22-28. The Wheaton Franciscans join our Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare System in focusing on importance of this coverage. 47 million Americans are without healthcare. CHA and Cover the Uninsured. Bells will also be ringing at OLA and throughout Illinois to mark the 1.8 million uninsured in the state. Also visit http://www.cbhconline.org/index.html for local healthcare update in Illinois.

Physicians for Human Rights and the ONE Organization amongst other organizations are promoting March as Global AIDS Month of Action. The purpose of this effort is to harness the advocacy efforts to educate Congress about the need to appropriately fund and implement the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a landmark global health plan that we promoted the authorization for last year. We are happy to announce the appointment of long time HIV/AIDS advocate Jeff Crowley, M.P.H. to develop a national AIDS strategy for the United States. Mr. Crowley is passionate about HIV/AIDS and knows the health care reform process.