NOVI, Mich., April 24, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Trinity Health today released its "Essential Elements of Systemic Health Care Reform," a position paper intended to engage national leaders and promote dialogue toward achieving coverage and access for all Americans in a cost-effective system of care.
"We firmly believe that it is entirely within our nation's reach to provide high quality, reasonably priced, reliable health care for all Americans," said Joseph Swedish, president and CEO, Trinity Health.
"While a comprehensive solution may not be immediately visible, our organizations recognize that coverage, costs and coordination of care are related," he continued. "We encourage lawmakers to use these recommendations as a unifying vision for health policy, so that their actions are not just incremental repairs to a flawed and costly system, but are instead designed as sequential steps toward a vision for a transformed system of care.
Trinity Health announced its plan for health care reform at the start of Cover the Uninsured Week (April 23-27), joining health organizations and civic groups across the country to speak out on behalf of the nation's most vulnerable population. Trinity Health is participating in this key effort to ensure coverage and access to health services for all people.
"The fact there are 45 million uninsured is a national travesty," said Daniel Hale, Executive Vice President of Community Benefit Ministry and Public Affairs, Trinity Health. "As a nation, we should no longer tolerate a system that leaves millions without insurance and adequate access to health care. Trinity Health is demonstrating visible, system-wide leadership in selected areas where we can make a difference through federal health policy."
"Essential Elements of Systemic Health Care Reform" include the following recommendations:
1. Coverage and access for all
* Require coverage for everyone with uniform, core benefits.
* Organize coverage for continuous protection and broad pooling of
risk.
* Ensure personalized care and "continuous healing relationships,"
especially for persons with special needs and those at the end of
life.
2. Value for all
* Align payment to coordinate care, improve health status, and
ensure cost-effectiveness.
* Facilitate the use of information to continuously improve
quality, coordinate services, and maximize efficiency
* Promote wellness and prevention.
* Optimize administration efficiency and minimize administration
cost.
3. Supported by all
* Encourage personal responsibility for maintaining health
* Ensure shared responsibility and equitable financing of the
system.
"Coverage and access for all is both a moral and a pragmatic imperative," Hale said. "Morally, health care is a basic human need required for people to flourish. Pragmatically, coverage for all will mean more efficient care, a healthier population, and a more competitive economy."
For more information on the Essential Elements of Systemic Healthcare Reform, visit www.trinity-health.org and click on the Advocacy Action link.
About Trinity Health
Trinity Health is Michigan's leading health care provider and one of the state's largest employers, providing the full continuum of care for Michigan's residents, with 12 hospitals, 9 nursing homes, 19 senior housing facilities, 8 home health care agencies and 4 hospices serving 35 counties. More than 27,500 associates provide care to one in 11 Michigan residents. With a national headquarters in Novi, Michigan, Trinity Health owns or manages 46 hospitals, 379 outpatient facilities, 26 long-term care facilities, and numerous home health offices and hospice programs in eight states and employs over 45,100 nationwide. Trinity Health reported $6.1 billion in unrestricted revenue in fiscal year 2006. For more information, visit trinity-health.org.
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