Another look at the HHS mandate's ramifications.
by EWTN NEWS 03/08/2012
In a March 1 column in The Fiscal Times, political analyst Edward Morrissey said that if the mandate succeeds in shutting down Catholic hospitals and health-care institutions, it will “create a disaster for the delivery of health care in the country and rapidly escalate the public costs of health care.”
“Thanks to the economic models of these hospitals, no one will rush to buy them,” he explained. “Over 120,000 beds would disappear from an already-stressed system.”
The U.S. bishops have remained united and steadfast in their opposition to a mandate that was recently introduced by the Obama administration to require employers to offer health-care plans that cover contraception, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs, even if doing so violates their consciences.
Cardinal Francis George of Chicago recently warned that the archdiocese would shut down its institutions, including schools, hospitals and charitable organizations, rather than violating its core principles.
Morrissey observed that the Catholic Church runs “perhaps the most extensive private health-care delivery system in the nation.”
According to the Catholic Health Association of the United States, the Church operates 12.6% of U.S. hospitals and accounts for 15.6% of hospital admissions and 14.5% of all hospital expenses. In 2010, these expenses added up to $98.6 billion.
Additionally, more than 400 health centers and 1,500 specialized homes are operated by the Catholic Church.
If Catholic hospitals cease to exist, Morrissey explained, many patients would have to turn to institutions run by state and federal governments, which operate less efficiently, in order to receive important services. Wait times would increase significantly, and patients may not receive the same care they currently do.
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