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A Year Of Action To Ensure Access To Care And Advance Health In America

All eyes this week have been on Washington, D.C., as President Trump was inaugurated and the 119th Congress — with Republicans holding majorities in the House and the Senate — beginning its legislative work.

As always with a change of administration and congressional leadership, there are new opportunities to explore and new challenges to navigate.

Administration and congressional leaders continue to plot out their legislative strategy for funding the federal government, which must occur by March 14; raising the debt ceiling; and using reconciliation — a budget tool that gives Congress a fast-track mechanism to avoid the Senate filibuster and pass legislation with a simple majority — to push through priorities on taxes, border security, energy and deficit reduction.

All of these instances will provide opportunities to go on offense and advocate for priorities that support hospitals' ability to deliver quality care their communities depend on. At the same time, these instances present significant challenges that will require us  to play defense  so  we can preserve access to the 24/7 care hospitals provide for patients and communities.

For example, on offense we're advocating to extend the Marketplace Premium Tax Credits to ensure millions of Americans can continue to access health insurance; boost programs that support access to care in rural communities; and provide relief from burdensome policies that take caregivers away from providing patient care and increase costs. On defense, among other issues, we'll need to prevent significant reductions to Medicaid and Medicare funding that would jeopardize access to hospital care and services; protect the 340B Drug Pricing Program from harmful changes; and preserve not-for-profit hospitals' tax-exempt status so they can continue providing community benefits tailored to their communities' unique needs.

You can find out more about all of these issues and others as part of AHA's recently released Advocacy Agenda. 

While activity on Capitol Hill is expected to be fast and furious during the next few months, here are three things hospital and health system leaders can do to ensure our field's voices are heard.

Stay engaged with the AHA and Coalition. The AHA will be providing hospital and health system leaders timely alerts and information on the latest developments from Capitol Hill, as well as new advocacy tools and resources to help you tell your story. In addition, the Coalition to Strengthen America's Healthcare, of which the AHA is a founding member, will be running advertising on key issues, as well as engaging its more than 2.6 million grassroots supporters to take action.  

Tell your story to your lawmakers. While the AHA and Coalition provide the air cover here in Washington, nothing is more powerful than your voice — and the voices of your team members, trustees, patients and community members — with your senators and representatives. You live, work and, most importantly, vote in their districts and states. You have their attention and can explain to them the impact policy proposals would have for their constituents and your ability to provide care.  

Remain united as a field. While there will be many legislative proposals that come out during the next few weeks and months, it's more important than ever that our field remains united. We've seen time and time again when our field speaks with a strong, united and collective voice — policymakers and lawmakers hear us. And we get results.

We may be living in unpredictable times, but one thing that is predictable — and will never change — is that hospitals will always be a source of health, healing and hope. Hospitals always will be focused on providing life-saving care to anyone who walks through their doors as well as promoting wellness. And hospitals will always be cornerstones of the communities they serve as we work together to advance health in America.

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