Moral Healthcare

More about us

Health Care for All

Vision and Approach:

We envision an America where no one needs to worry about insurance coverage or access to care–where health care is recognized as a basic right. Currently, we are fighting plans to slash Medicaid, Medicare and Affordable Care Act (ACA) protections. All our faith traditions and holy texts call us to care for one another as we would ourselves. We are putting our faith into action as we work for a system that serves ALL of us, as we hold our representatives accountable to build a just health care system for all.

The Situation:

28 million Americans are uninsured, and for many more health coverage is inadequate and represents a crushing financial burden. Our health is inextricably tied to issues of environmental, economic, food and immigration justice, as well as other social determinants of health. We know that those facing oppression and marginalization in our society experience higher rates of uninsurance, have worse health outcomes, and lack access to quality care. People of color, women, LGBTQ+ people, immigrants, and incarcerated people all experience the burdens of our broken healthcare system especially harshly.  

While we struggle in a broken health care system, programs that save lives are under attack in Congress. In the past months we’ve seen many attempts to dismantle the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and slash Medicaid and Medicare. Millions of Pennsylvanians depend on these programs, and their care is in jeopardy.

As people of faith, we cannot stand by as our people die preventable deaths, as families struggle to pay insurance premiums, and millions remain uninsured. And we cannot accept the continued attacks on Medicaid, Medicare and the ACA.  At POWER we see health as a moral issue, and demand quality, accessible, affordable health care for all as a human right.

Milestones and Victories:

In 2017, POWER targeted Senator Patrick Toomey, as we worked as part of a broad coalition of advocates seeking to prevent the repeal of the ACA. As part of this effort, POWER organized more than 90 Catholic leaders and organizations to ask Senator Toomey to vote against repeal. Toomey ultimately supported repeal, but the broader effort to explain the personal, economic and moral consequences of the legislation ultimately succeeded, and today the Affordable Care Act remains the law of the land.

POWER has lobbied, rallied, and occupied the offices of federal representatives in prayerful resistance to every ACA repeal bill, the Federal Budget and a Tax Bill–all of which prioritized tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations over the health and well-being of our communities.

Campaign Goals and Strategies:

POWER views healthcare as a moral issue, and we believe that it is our societal obligation to guarantee health care as a human right.  Our healthcare campaign, therefore, focuses on:

• Protecting Medicaid, Medicare, CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Program) and the ACA;
• Addressing the ACA’s limitations and advocating on behalf of those people for whom healthcare coverage is still unaffordable and inadequate; and
• Working toward universal coverage through a single payer system.

To these ends, POWER is:

• Educating and mobilizing faith communities in the movement for health care justice, including faith-based sign-on letters, lobby visits and rallies;
• Holding our federal representatives accountable, particularly targeting Senator Patrick Toomey, and Congressional Representatives in key swing districts:  Brian Fitzpatrick (PA 8), Patrick Meehan (PA 7), and Ryan Costello (PA 6)
• Working with state and national partners to communicate through op-eds and other vehicles about the implications of the attacks on the health care safety net, particularly for vulnerable people and communities.