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Health Policy Platform
SCL Health System Statement of Principles on Health Reform
SCL Health System’s Health Policy Platform is based on the premise that access to health care for all must be vigorously and thoughtfully pursued. We are pleased with the recent U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to uphold most of the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). Our health system fully supports the ACA’s goal to provide access to safe and reliable health care services for more Americans.
We are also pleased the ACA provides appropriate financial assistance for the poor through premium subsidies and the expansion of government programs. This provision is particularly important to SCL Health System as part of our mission is to improve the health of the people and communities we serve, especially those who are poor and vulnerable.
We recognize the costs of health care are accelerating – affecting jobs and our economy – and we are holding ourselves accountable for the quality and affordability of the care we deliver. Along those lines, we support the ACA’s delivery system transformation efforts. This includes support for the gradual restructuring of physician and hospital payment models to reward improvement in quality of care, patient outcomes and efficiency and to move away from fee-for-service and procedure volume payment programs.
The SCL Health System Health Policy Platform is aligned with the American Hospital Association and the Catholic Health Association.
Advocating for those we serve forward
We believe our job is to continue helping our patients navigate the health care system in an era of reform by providing information and tools to help them be informed health care consumers. We also continue to believe access to health care for all must be vigorously and thoughtfully pursued through meaningful reform in the way health care is delivered and paid for in this country.
We support health care coverage for all:
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We support reform of the insurance market to allow universal access to reliable, quality health coverage.
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We support mandates to achieve universal coverage, building on the employer-based system with appropriate assistance for the poor through premium subsidies and expansion of government programs.
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We support an insurance exchange, but oppose a public plan option or co-ops which compete through inadequate provider reimbursement (reducing access), inferior benefits and/or government subsidization.
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We support shared responsibility for health and wellness, utilizing medical homes and a community-based health approach to help people learn and care more about their own health.
We support delivery system transformation that improves quality of care, patient outcomes and efficiency:
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We are prepared to pilot innovative payment reforms through Medicare, such as hospital readmissions policies, value-based purchasing and bundled payments systems, but oppose arbitrary reductions to reimbursement rates or payment reforms that reduce access to services.
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We support medical homes and accountable care organizations as catalysts for change in coordination of care.
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We oppose dismantling of programs that defray costs to providers of uncompensated care, such as Disproportionate Share Hospital payments, as long as there are uninsured still needing services.
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We support research on comparative effectiveness and information-driven care to improve patient outcomes rather than as a tool for reimbursement decisions.
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We support government action to promote participation and investment in health information technology and to facilitate standardization to make technology as useful as possible.
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We support limitations on physician self-referral, but urge revision of The Stark Law and anti-kickback laws which impede new provider partnerships, block innovative care delivery models and prevent health information sharing.
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We urge amendment of federal and state anti-trust laws which make it difficult for hospitals and doctors to collaborate to improve care coordination across settings as well as reduce costly duplication of services.
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We support responsible and sustainable reforms that achieve savings to balance the new costs of expanding coverage, reduce wasteful spending and “bend the cost curve” while improving community health.
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We support existing tax-exempt policies for charitable health care organizations that demonstrate community benefit.
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We support reforms to the medical malpractice system in order to reach an appropriate balance, assuring fair compensation for medical injuries but controlling frivolous lawsuits that force “defensive medicine” and add unnecessarily to health care costs.
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We support the deployment of integrated electronic medical records systems to better facilitate information sharing among providers and to improve patient care and quality.
We support preservation of provider conscience protections and an "abortion neutral" approach:
Longstanding and widely supported policies protecting provider conscience rights must be preserved. As faith based providers of care, these protections go to the heart of what we do and why we do it.
Contact:
Christine Woolsey
Senior Vice President, Chief Communications Officer
SCL Health System
303-813-5065
christine.woolsey@sclhs.net
Download a pdf of the Health Policy Platform
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