Catholic Health Association: Defeating Medicare Cuts for America

Challenge: To restore the Balanced Budget Act cuts to Medicare.

Strategy: To create grassroots and congressional support to restore Medicare cuts which will allow CHA-member hospitals to stay open with the current level of patient services.

Background:
In the 1990s Congress enacted the Balanced Budget Act (BBA) to balance the federal budget. The cuts were established so that during five years, the cuts increased to 100 percent (year 1: 20%; year 2: 40%, etc.). These cuts affected hospital budgets, particularly those accepting Medicare patients. CHA-member hospitals, often caring for a majority of indigent patients, were dramatically affected by these cuts and were eliminating patient services to remain open.

Tactics:
• Created key messages.
• Held press conferences on Capitol Hill.
• Prepared materials including press releases, backgrounders, fact sheets.
• Participated in national coalition.
• Developed a grassroots campaign.
• Implemented an educational campaign on the Hill.
• Created opportunities for local media coverage.

Results: For the three years that we worked on the campaign, cuts were restored to Medicare and Medicaid.