UPDATED: Pulpit Announcements & Prayer Petition

Instructions: During October and November, diocesan and parish leaders were asked by the U.S. bishops to distribute two Nationwide Bulletin Inserts on health care reform. Thank for your great cooperation. On November 7, the U.S. House passed major health care reform that reaffirms the essential, longstanding and widely supported policy against using federal funds for elective abortion coverage. On December 24, the U.S. Senate rejected this policy and passed health care reform that requires federal funds to help subsidize and promote health plans that cover elective abortions.

Anuncios desde el púlpito y Oración de intercesión

Instrucciones: En octubre y noviembre, los obispos católicos de los EE.UU. le pidieron al personal parroquial y diocesano de toda la nación que distribuyeran dos volantes en el boletín sobre la reforma del sistema de salud. Gracias por su excelente cooperación. El 7 de noviembre, la Cámara de Representantes aprobó una importante reforma del sistema de salud que reafirma la política fundamental, establecida hace mucho tiempo y que goza de amplio respaldo, que impide el uso de fondos federales para abortos electivos.

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops has consistently stressed that the following three essential elements be included in health care insurance reform:

• keep in place current federal law on abortion funding and conscience protections on abortion;
• protect the access to health care that immigrants currently have and remove current barriers to access; and
• include strong provisions for adequate affordability and coverage standards.

Letter Opposing Senate Version of Health Reform Legislation

Health Reform Needs More Work, Says USCCB

Bishops Deeply Disappointed by Senate Vote to Table Nelson-Hatch-Casey Amendment

What does the Nelson-Hatch-Casey amendment really do?

Q. Why does the Church consider health care a basic human right?

A. From the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church: "The demands of the common good are dependent on the social conditions of each historical period and are strictly connected to respect for and the integral promotion of the person and his fundamental rights [349].  These demands concern above all the commitment to peace, the organization of the State's powers, a sound juridical system, the protection of the environment, and the provision of essential services to all, some of ...

A. Abortion advocacy groups are trying to use health care reform to advance their agenda, by having Congress or a federal official establish abortion as a 'basic' or 'essential' health benefit guaranteeing  'access' nationwide and requiring Americans to subsidize abortion with their tax dollars or insurance.  This would reverse a tradition of federal laws and policies that have barred federal funding and promotion of abortion in all major health programs for over three decades (e. g., the Hyde amendment, 1976), and have respected the right of health care providers to decline

Q. Are the Bishops promoting socialized medicine by advocating for universal access?

A. All people need and should have access to comprehensive, quality health care that they can afford, and it should not depend on their stage in life, where or whether they or their parents work, how much  they earn, where they live, or where they were born. There may be different ways to accomplish this, but the Bishops' Conference believes health care reform should be truly universal and genuinely affordable.

Visit our health care special section for complete coverage and background.

Q. What statements have the USCCB issued on the health care insurance reform debate?

A. The USCCB has issued five statement, in the form of letters to Congress, on the current debate.  In addition, in 1981 the Bishops issued a pastoral letter on Health and Health care.  Here are links to all of these documents:

• August 11 letter from Cardinal Rigali to House of Representatives
• July 29 Letter from Cardinal Rigali to House Energy and Commerce Committee
  
• July 17 Letter from Bishop William Murphy to Congress
• Statement of Bishop William Murphy to Senate Committee on Finance
• March 26 Joint Letter to the Senate
• Health and Health Care, A Pastoral Letter of the American Catholic Bish ops, 1981

Q. How large is the Catholic health care community in the United States?

A. The Catholic Church is one of the largest health care providers in the United States. It's therefore a credible voice and a significant player in the debate surrounding health care reform and the many Americans who will be affected by it. Here's a snapshot of the size and scope in one year of Catholic health care in the U.S.

• More than 16.9 million emergency room visits
• More than 92.7 million outpatient visits
• 5,542,314 Admissions
• 624 Catholic Hospitals
• 499 Catholic Long-Term Care Nursing Facilities
• 164 Home Health Agencies
• 41 Hospice Organizations

Q. Health care is already expensive. Why advocate for legal immigrants to be covered too?

A. Legal immigrants pay taxes and contribute to the U.S. economy and social life in the same manner as U.S. citizens do. Therefore, there should be equity for legal immigrants in access to health care. In the  Catholic tradition, health care is a basic human right, like education, and having access to it should not depend on where you were born. Achieving equality in this case, for instance, means repealing the five year ban currently in effect for legal immigrants to access Medicaid, and ensuring that all pregnant women in the United States, who will be giving birth to U.S. citizens, are eligible along with their unborn children for health care.

Q. Why are the Bishops so vocal about health care reform?
A. One out of three Americans under the age of 65 went without health insurance for some period of time during 2007 and 2008. Of these, four out of five were from working families. Sixty four percent of the uninsured are employed full time, year round. This state of affairs is unacceptable. In the Catholic tradition, health care is a basic human right not a privilege. It is a fundamental issue of human life and dignity.

Q. What kind of actions do the bishops recommend to make quality healthcare accessible for all and genuinely affordable?
A. Many lower income families simply lack the resources to meet their health care expenses. For these families, significant premiums and cost sharing charges  can serve as barriers to obtaining coverage or seeing a doctor.  Medicaid cost-sharing protections should be maintained and new coverage options should protect the lowest income enrollees from burdensome cost sharing.

The bishops have urged Congress to limit premiums or exempt families earning less than 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Level from monthly premiums; they also recommend limiting co-payments and other costs which could discourage needed car, and increasing eligibility levels for Medicaid and CHIP (Children's Health Insurance Program). They have urged Congress to provide states with resources to expand coverage and ensure sufficient funding for safety net clinics, hospitals and other providers serving those who will continue to fall through the cracks even after the system is reformed.

Q. The Catholic Bishops support health care reform. What are the their key criteria?
A. The bishops have been consistent advocates for comprehensive, life-affirming reform to the nation's health care system. Health care reform needs to reflect basic moral principles. The bishops believe access to basic, quality health care is a universal human right not a privilege. In this light they offer four criteria to guide the process: a truly universal health policy that respects all human life and dignity, from conception to a truly universal health policy that respects all human life and dignity, from conception to natural death; access for all with a special concern for the poor and inclusion of legal immigrants; pursuing the common good and preserving pluralism including freedom of conscience and variety of options; and restraining costs and applying them equitably across the spectrum of payers.