Catholic Healthcare Partners and Trinity Health, two of the largest Catholic health systems, announced plans to dedicate resources to an advocacy campaign to promote the passage of federal legislation to help provide healthcare coverage to uninsured Americans. The Communities Building Access Act is modeled after two successful programs that provide coverage for more than 8,800 enrollees--Access Health of Muskegon, Mich., and the CareNet program of Toledo/Lucas County, Ohio. The legislation would provide federal grants from the Department of Health and Human Services to local communities across the nation to establish locally administered programs that pay a portion of the community’s share of a premium--with the remainder split between employers and employees--for health insurance. The grants would also be used to recruit specialists to donate care, electronic health records, and administration of specialty care community clinics. A central repository to collect and disseminate data would also be maintained.
CHP and Trinity said their advocacy efforts would involve their approximately 80,000 employees in 10 states and that they would also be reaching out to other healthcare providers, companies, and community organizations nationwide.
